Cruel To Be Kind
by TraceAce
Summary: Jeff Hardy decides to stop the Invasion. Thing is, his plan includes Jericho fessing up to his less-then-obvious crush on Steph, which is unlikely. Unless..
1. Jeff's Evvviillll..Indeed.

Jeff smirked, watching over the tape. Jesus, how obvious did it have to get for people to see it? Jeff was down when it happened, but looking over the tape, Chris yet again just proved his point. The point remained unseen by everyone else, however.  
  
"Chris, you idiot, stop falling for her." he mumbled, under his breath. Jeff knew his best friend all too well. He didn't notice it for awhile, well, pretended not too anyway, but it was becoming painfully obvious as the weeks wore on. Chris has never ever gone through so much trouble to piss off someone. No one. Not even his now friend once enemy Benoit.  
  
He watched it again, looking like he was thinking. From what he could understand, Chris wasn't really very average. His mentality, though a lot more stable then some, was a bit off. Moreover, he had no idea how to approach woman, even with his good looks. Actually, he downright sucked at it. He was proving it with Stephanie, whom he continued to pretend to hate. Jeff knew better.  
  
The signs were clear. He was acting as bad as he was with Chyna. Teasing, taunting..all the while gaining the attention of her, though in a negative light. It was all for attention. Jeff understood that was what Chris fed off of. He knew his friend all ready got that if he didn't make fun of Stephanie, he wouldn't exist to her. However, at his current rate, he was now probably the only thing she had on her mind, even if it was because she wanted to kill him.  
  
Jeff never bothered asking Chris about it, though. He knew he would just quickly shoot down the idea. He was stubborn, very stubborn. However, Jeff knew it when he saw it, and that was when he started getting the idea.  
  
Perhaps it had been because he got hit in the head too many times, perhaps not. But Jeff had started thinking..Stephanie was brainwashed by everyone's favorite chubby announcer Paul E. Heyman, right? Well, Chris would be able to easily snap her out of it. Without her, Paul would surely crumble. The WWF would win. No more Invasion, Paul will forever be out of there.  
  
The thing was, Stephanie and Chris couldn't stand in a room for a second without totally ripping each other apart verbally. The chances of them helping each other was slim to non-existant. That was the second part of his plan, his brilliant brilliant scheme.  
  
And he needed his brother and Lita's help, too.  
  
"So let me get this straight, Jeff," Matt replied cautiously, regarding his brother like he thought he had jumped from too many laters. "You want us.." He motioned to himself and Lita. "To help you get Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon to the cabin we own?"  
  
"Yep." Jeff confirmed. Both Matt and Lita looked at each other.  
  
"And..um..why should we do that?" Lita questioned, speaking up for Matt.  
  
"Because they like each other." Jeff nodded, sounding so confident, like it was the most obvious thing in the entire world. The two looked at each other again, then simultaneously began to laugh hysterically. Jeff kept his deadpan look as the two managed to calm their giggles.  
  
"Jeff, are you crazy?" Matt asked, a grin still on his face. "I don't know if I was seeing things, but I think I've seen Chris totally humilate her for the last..what..3 weeks? 2?"  
  
"Exactly my point." he nodded, again getting 'What the hell is he on?' stares. "Listen, Matt, Lita, you know Chris. When it comes to girls, he's an idiot. And you both know Stephanie wouldn't give him the light of day if he wasn't mean to her.."  
  
"Jeff, you're talking crazy here." Lita said, softly. "Chris absolutely hates her. He's sad it a million times, or have *I* started hearing things?"  
  
"He's stubborn." Jeff shrugged. "Listen, I know him, he totally likes her. This is a great idea." Matt and Lita both paused, but Matt was the one that spoke up first.  
  
"All right, little brother, I'll humor you. Say I actually go along with this," Matt started, eyeing Jeff cautiously. "What would sticking them in the cabin do? They'll just reck the place."  
  
"I don't think it'd get that bad." Jeff responded.  
  
"All right, question two." Matt replied. "Why do you care so much that they get together?"  
  
"Matt, if Chris and Steph finally let their feelings come out, Chris will be able to get to her, get her back on the right thinking path. You know she's being controlled by Paul. Chris could break the spell, so to say.." Jeff grinned. "And without Stephanie, Paul's whole company will colapse. Shane can't pay for both, after all."  
  
"Which means no more Invasion." Matt finally understood. Jeff nodded, proudly.  
  
"And then there's the problem of Triple H--"  
  
"Where's the problem? She was drugged into marrying him. She really doesn't have too much ties if you ask me." Jeff said simply.  
  
"The idea's all well and good, Jeff," Lita finally spoke up. "And I could easily get Chris up there..but how about Stephanie? I doubt she would trust us when we go up to and say 'Hey Steph, why don't we go to a cabin where no one's around?'."  
  
"That's the brilliant part." Jeff was in one of his confident moods that day, obviously. He looked at the two, a triumph grin on his face. "We have a friend in the Alliance." A look of dispair crossed Matt's face.  
  
"You don't mean Shane do you?" he asked.  
  
"Hurricane." Jeff corrected. Matt rolled his eyes.  
  
"Ooh no." Matt shook his head. "No way. Are you nuts, Jeff? He hates us now."  
  
"You know he doesn't." Jeff smirked. "He's only going along with the Invasion thing because he needs a job. He's still one of us."  
  
"I don't know.."  
  
"Don't you want this thing to end? Don't you both?" Jeff looked at the two. "Trust me."  
  
"The last time you said that you got us all into trouble." Matt mumbled. "But fine..at least I'll go along with this insane idea. I tell you, when Chris finds out, I'm blaming it all on you."  
  
"I guess I'll help." Lita sighed. "I can't believe I just said that. You better be right about this, Jeff."  
  
"When am I not?" he quieted at the looks they gave him. "Um..don't answer that."  
  
"Let's find Shane." Matt rolled his eyes, standing.  
  
"Hurricane." Jeff corrected again.  
  
"Shaddup." Matt mumbled.  
  
****  
  
"What the hell are--" Shane let out a strangled yelp when Matt rushed him against the wall, clamping his mouth shut.  
  
"Is that really necessary, Matt?" Jeff rolled his eyes.  
  
"I didn't want him to scream," Matt replied matter-of-factly.  
  
"Let him go."  
  
"Whatever." Matt released his grip and Shane let out a breath. His eyes glanced at the three that had invaded his locker room.  
  
"Jesus, Matt, you're still as violent as you were when we were kids." Shane rubbed his neck, which was also pinned to the wall.  
  
"Who thought of that corny Hurricane name?" Jeff grinned.  
  
"Don't mess with the nickname." he replied, smirking. "So, before you get caught in my locker room, do you mind explaining..why you're in my locker room?"  
  
"We need to ask a favor of you." Jeff explained.  
  
"A favor, huh?" he grinned, broadly. "I'm listening."  
  
"We want you to kidnap Stephanie." Matt said bluntly. Shane looked at the three, blinking.  
  
"And why would I want to do that?" he questioned, smirking.  
  
"Because we're going to lock her in a cabin with Chris Jericho." Shane looked at them like they had all grown two heads.  
  
"So you want to torture her?" he questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
"No, we want to get them together." Jeff explained. "Come on, Shane, how can you not see the sexual tension?"  
  
"I see tension, but I'm not so sure it's sexual.." Shane trailed off.  
  
"Will you help us or not?" Lita asked impatiently.  
  
"Why should I?" he asked, slouching against the wall he was previously pinned against.  
  
"If all goes through, Invasion will be finished." Jeff stated.  
  
"What do you mean?" He sounded interested.  
  
"Well, you know how almost everyone is brainwashed here..besides you and a few others, of course.." Jeff pointed out. Shane nodded. "Well, so is Stephanie. However, Chris might be the only one able to break her out of it. I know Chris, he really DOES care about her.."  
  
"Interesting way of showing it.." Shane smirked.  
  
"Chris isn't very good with emotions." Lita interjected. Jeff smiled at her, she seemed to be slowly believing him. "Listen, Shane, we need your help. Please."  
  
Shane paused, seeming to be thinking. "..All right." he finally responded. "Can't let a lovely lady down." He winked at Lita.  
  
"Great!" Jeff replied, upbeat. "Let's start planning." The three nodded, though Jeff knew each of them weren't exactly as sure as he was. 


	2. The Plan Goes Into Motion..

Chris stretched. His body hurt from the match the night before. Damn Stephanie, she made him lose again. He didn't really care anymore, he was used to it. For some reason she always got to him during the matches she was out, and he really only wanted to pay her back for all the trouble she caused him. Rhyno was just a distraction.  
  
Honestly, Chris knew he didn't actually hate her any more then anybody else. However, due to circumstances such as the fact she was married to an idiot, she had McMahon as a last name, and the fact that she had tried to stop him from ever having chances of ever having a little Chris run around, she just tended to get on his nerves just a little bit more. Still, even he knew his past actions of the last few weeks were pretty bad, though he would never readily admit it. Vince wanted him to be mean, he was mean.  
  
"Hey Chris!" Jeff grinned broadly. Chris looked up from the ground, his eyes stopping on Jeff who was standing in front of him. He gave a weak grin, then went back to lookingat the ground. "I know just what you need!"  
  
"More ice?" Chris asked. Jeff smirked.  
  
"You need a vacation!" he nodded. "Which is exactly why I'm here." Chris glanced up again, this time paying attention.  
  
"What do you mean, Rainbow?" he asked. Jeff's grin was never-ending.  
  
"Well, you see, me and Matt were going to go up to our nearby cabin for the week." Jeff explained. "But Matt has to stay with Lita for some reason. Girl problems or something." Chris let out a chuckle. "Anyway, I don't want to go up alone..so I was wondering..why don't you come?"  
  
"Me?" he asked, raising a brow. "Why me?"  
  
"Because you're my best friend." Jeff replied simply. "Duh."  
  
"Thanks for the offer, Jeff," Chris replied. "But I don't think--"  
  
"Vince's orders." Jeff chuckled. "Wanna see the note?"  
  
"You went to Vince?" he asked, surprised. "That desperate for company, Hardy?"  
  
"See for yourself." Jeff pulled a note out of his pocket and handed it to Chris. He opened it and read it over.  
  
"Take a break, on me." he read. "I'm still not used to Vince being nice to me, you know."  
  
"Yeah, it's weird to me too," Jeff agreed. "So, what do you say, Chris? We're leaving around 5 today."  
  
"Orders are orders." he shrugged. "All right, I'll meet you outside the hotel. 5 PM."  
  
"Great! We'll have a great time!" he clapped Chris's shoulder, then left the room.  
  
Chris grinned when Jeff left. Yeah, he definitely wouldn't mind a week away from all the idiots in the WWF and Alliance. Away from HER. He heard about the Hardy cabin, it was equipped with everything, including a pool. And it was really elusive, real..hidden. Jeff bragged once that it was 40 miles away from civilization.  
  
If only Chris knew he would be wishing the fact wasn't true very very soon.  
  
****  
  
"Stephy! Hey!" Stephanie looked up to see the young Shane Helms propped against the wall. He grinned widely at her, and she smiled back. Shane probably was the only person she talked too, well, really talked too. He was an all around friendly guy.  
  
"Hi Shane." she replied. "What brings you around here?"  
  
"Nothing much, I was hoping to bump into you, actually." he grinned. "I had a great idea you might want to hear."  
  
"Oh really?" she asked, and he nodded.  
  
"Yep." he grinned. "My uncle, bless his heart, died last year of a heart attack."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that." Stephanie blinked. "But what's that got to do with me?"  
  
"Well, my uncle decided to leave me his lush, kick ass cabin in his will. Shane and Heyman said I could have the week off, so I was like 'Hey, Steph wanted a place that's quiet so she can get her work done..', and I remembered my Uncle telling me that the place is 40 miles from civilzation--"  
  
"Are you asking me to come with you?" she smiled lightly. He nodded.  
  
"Sure am." he chuckled. "It'd be good for you, Steph. You've been under so much stress."  
  
"Well that's true but.."  
  
"Shane and Heyman can hold up the ranks for just a week." he grinned. "Come on, please?"  
  
"I don't know.."  
  
"I won't take no for an answer." he gave a grin. She paused, then smiled back.  
  
"All right. Let me tell Shane and Paul.."  
  
"All ready done." he grinned. "I knew you'd say yes." She giggled.  
  
"Thanks, Shane." she replied. He shrugged.  
  
"What are friends for?" he asked. "Now then, we're leaving at 5 PM."  
  
"How far is it from here?" she asked.  
  
"Ooh, a good 2-3 hours." he shrugged. "It's real hidden away. You'll love it. Pool, big screen TV, the works!"  
  
"Sounds like your uncle was rich." Stephanie commented. Shane nodded.  
  
"Filthy rich. Probably had more then me." he grinned. "He owned a company back in North Carolina. Forgot what it was called.."  
  
"Your family was a bunch of overachievers too, huh?" she chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, I think I'm adopted." he grinned.  
  
"You're sucessful." she chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, at the same time I'm hitting people in front of millions." he winked. "Not exactly what my mom had in mind."  
  
"Most parents don't, but I think it's something to be proud of." she smiled. "Well, I have to go get ready."  
  
"I'll come by your room around five, so be ready." he replied. "See ya later, Steph." He waved and walked the other direction.  
  
She didn't notice the odd grin on his face as he left.  
  
****  
  
Chris groaned. The ride was just too damn long. Hours had passed, and now he was in the car, Pearl Jam blasting through the radio speakers, and him with a huge headache. He loved rock, but right now..it was annoying the hell out of him.  
  
"Can you turn it down?" he asked, trying to be heard over the speakers.  
  
"What?" Jeff asked, not understanding him.  
  
"I said can you turn down the music?" Chris asked, louder.  
  
"Hold on, let me turn this down, I can't hear you." he turned it down, then glanced to Chris. "What were you saying?"  
  
"I said that you have been hanging around your brother too much." Chris said. "And if you try to turn that dial up, I will personally put a fist through your radio."  
  
"Touchy." Jeff grinned. Chris rolled his eyes.  
  
"So, this is the cabin you and your brother bought, right?" he questioned. Jeff nodded.  
  
"Our home away from home. No girl could find it..well, unless I brought her that is.." Jeff gave a sly grin.  
  
"Yeah yeah, girls dig you." Chris sniggered.  
  
"It's true." he answered simply. Chris let out a laugh. "And what about you? You need to date more, Chris."  
  
"There's no girl I would want to go out with." he retorted.  
  
"Or there is one and you just won't admit it." Jeff mumbled under his breath.  
  
"Whatcha say Hardy?" Chris asked.  
  
"Nothing." he quickly said, grinning innocently. Chris went silent, and Jeff went on driving. Shane had better keep up his end of the bargin.. 


	3. What Do You Mean They Left Us Here?!

"This place is awesome." Chris commented as he looked it over. He was tired, but not tired enough to sleep without looking around first. It was everything Jeff made it to be. The pool was huge, as was the TV. Chris was all ready glad he agreed to this.  
  
"The bedroom is this way." Jeff motioned to a room. Chris followed him in, and whistled in awe. The room had a TV in it too, plus two huge beds. They would be living in luxury the entire week. "We have food for the week, hell, maybe even for a year..you know Matt, more is better."  
  
"Yeah." he nodded. "This is great, though, Jeff. Thanks for inviting me."  
  
"No problem, man." he shook his head. "Hey, I have to um..clean out the pool. Why don't you try to get some sleep?"  
  
"Not a bad idea." he yawned. "I'll unpack tomorrow."  
  
"Sounds like a plan." he grinned. "I'll be back soon."  
  
Chris watched Jeff retreat out of the room. He shrugged, pulling off his shirt. The air conditioning felt pretty good against his skin, a lot better then Jeff's beat up old car. Chris had seen his better one, but Jeff continued to think his old one was safer. His old one also had a danger of dehydration, since the only air conditioning it offered was the fact the window could open half-way.  
  
Deciding that fishing his usual boxers he wore to bed was worthless, he slid into one of the beds in his shorts. They were comfortable shorts, after all. He pulled the covers up to his chin, then turned off the lights by pressing a button by his bedside. It was all pretty ritzy. Chris let out a sigh and closed his eyes.  
  
His eyes popped open a few minutes later, however, when he heard chittering by his ear. He blinked, turning over, only to find a squirrel had someone managed to get in to the place. He muffled a cry of alarm, then quickly scooted out of the bed. He turned on the light and the thing carefully walked toward him.  
  
Thinking it might be trapped inside, he basically trapped it in the blanket and took it outside onto the balcony. He dropped the blanket lightly, opening it up so the thing could run. It just sat there. "Go on, get out of here." It turned and looked up at him. "I'm not standing out here all night." He let out a yelp when it sprang at him, climbing up his leg. The nails were surprisingly not too sharp, but it did manage to get to his shoulder. Again, Chris bit back a scream.  
  
"Now what?" he mumbled, thinking. It had made his way onto his head and now it simply sat there. "HEY! Off the hair munchkin!" he got brave and pulled the little thing off with his hands. Surprisingly, it didn't make a fuss, which throughly confused Chris. "What are you, some kind of pet?"  
  
It chittered, still in Chris's light grip, it's tail twitching against his hand. It hadn't bit at him once, not even a nip. No foaming from the mouth, so it didn't have rabies. He put it down again, it didn't move, but kept looking up at him. Sighing in defeat, he picked it up, peering at it. "I'm guessing I took your bed, huh?" He took his covers and walked back into the main room. He closed the sliding door of the balcony, and walked back into the bedroom. He plopped the squirrel down onto one pillow, he put his head down on the other. The squirrel suddenly hopped up onto the jutted out part of the bedframe, then into a little ninche that had to be man-made. It must have been Jeff's pet.  
  
"I'll ask about it tomorrow." he promised himself, then shut off the lights. This time, he had no trouble falling asleep.  
  
****  
  
Chris woke up with the distinct impression that something bigger then a squirrel was sitting on his bed. He opened one eye, wearily, wondering if Jeff had sat on his bed for some reason. It definitely wasn't Jeff, unless he had lost about 60 pounds and got his body shaped like a girl's. He opened the other eye, then blinked. Whoever it was, her back was turned to him.  
  
He sat up, as gently as he could. He actually didn't make a noise. The darkness shrouded any features that he might use to distinguish. The first person he thought of was Lita, but he couldn't see the hair color, so he wasn't sure. "Um..hello?"  
  
The person jumped up, letting out a high pitched yelp. Chris, surprised, fell backwards a bit. He blinked, staring at the form that was now facing him. He reached for the light and turned it on. His eyes widened.  
  
"YOU!" he growled. She had the same shocked expression he had.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.  
  
"I think I should be asking you the same thing." he smirked.  
  
"This is Shane's uncle's place!" she replied. "He invited me over."  
  
"Um..no, this is the Matt and Jeff's new cabin." Chris informed.  
  
"We'll just see about that. Shane's getting my stuff out of his car." She stomped out of the room, and Jericho, still dazed and very confused, followed.  
  
"Something fishy's going on around here.." Chris said, stating the obvious. Shane had indeed unpacked, but he, and Jeff, were no where to be found. Their cars were gone.   
  
"No duh, idiot." she huffed. "What the hell is going on around here?!"  
  
"Chill out, Princess." he smirked. "There must be a perfectly good explaination on why we're both here."  
  
"Don't call me Princess." she said, a warning tone perfectly clear in her voice.  
  
"Have a nice sleep outside." he rolled his eyes, walking into the cabin, shutting the door. He winced when he heard pounding on the door.  
  
"CHRIS! Let me in this INSTANT!" he heard from behind the door.  
  
"Can't hear ya.." he grinned, turning the lights on. There had to be a clue of what was going on. His eyes stopped on a tape on the kitchen counter, which bluntly had 'WATCH ME' on it's label. "Gee, I wonder if this is it.."  
  
"CHRIS!"  
  
Rolling his eyes, he walked to the door. Why he was opening it, he had no clue. He opened it and watched as she flew past him, tripping and landing face first on the couch. She let out a surprised gasp, while Chris bursted out laughing.  
  
"That was NOT funny!" she said, getting up, brushing herself off.  
  
"You asked me to open the door." he replied innocently. The glare she shot him could freeze hell, but he let it slide. "Check it out, I found the answer." He waved it in front of her face. "Can Stephy read the print?"  
  
"Shut the hell up." she responded.  
  
"Tsk tsk, taking catch phrases, are we?" he smirked. She looked like she was about to kill him. "Let's watch the tape, or is there a problem with that?"  
  
"Fine." she plopped down on the edge of the couch. He popped in the tape, then turned on the TV. Sitting on the other end of the couch, he grabbed the controller and pressed play.  
  
"Focus it, man!" the familiar voice of Jeff came out of the speakers. Chris leaned foward, watching the video intently. After a moment, whoever was taping had focused on a group sitting in the same cabin they were in. Matt, Jeff, Lita, and that Hurricane kid he had seen the other day.  
  
"Chris! Hey man!" Chris watched as Jeff grinned broadly. "If you're watching this, you undoubtably found someone that wasn't me in your house. Hey Steph, how do you like the Hardy pad?"  
  
"So he did know about this." Chris mumbled.  
  
"Sorry for tricking you Stephanie, but I didn't lie about it all--you can relax this entire week." Shane spoke up. Stephanie remained silent.  
  
"I bet you're wondering why you two seem to be stuck in a cabin together. Allow me to explain.." Matt trailed off. "Chris, Steph, there is just WAYY too much animosity between you. Because we're all such great friends, we decided, well, you two seriously need to end your feud. So, basically, you two are stuck there for one week. We made sure that you guys would have enough food to last you, along with all the comforts of home..well, besides the phone of course." He chuckled. "And yes, we all know we're in for an ass whooping when we finally pick you up, but if there was even a chance you two would stop humilating each other in front of everyone, it's SO worth it."  
  
"Have a nice week guys!" Lita grinned. The tape went blank. Neither said a word for a few minutes, they just both stared wide-eyed at the blank screen.  
  
"I'm going to kill Jeff." he mumbled.  
  
"I'm going to kill Shane." she said in the exact same moment he spoke up. He looked at her, then groaned. "This is all your fault!"  
  
"And how did you come to that conclusion?" he questioned, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Because they're your stupid friends!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Excuse me, but if my memory serves me correctly, I've never even MET that Hurricane kid." Chris shot back.  
  
"Shane."  
  
"Whatever." He waved a hand.  
  
"He was probably made to do it by your hoodlum friends!" she accused.  
  
"Oh, that's great coming from someone who owns the federation that is comprised of a bunch of junkies." he retorted. "Listen, I'm tired, it's 3 AM..I'm going to sleep. There are two beds in that room, and I'll let you sleep there because I'm feeling generous."  
  
"You are in no position to tell me what I can or cannot do." she smirked.  
  
"Good night, princess." he replied, his voice hardened with a sarcastic tone. He got up, making his way to the bedroom, leaving her to stand there.  
  
"What about my bags?" she called out to him.  
  
"You can't trust your bags to a hoodlum, I might steal something." he called back, slamming the door. He smiled satisfactorily when he heard an annoyed huff come from the other side of the door. 


	4. Who's Betting The Hardy Pad Will Blow Up...

Stephanie had indeed finally give in and enter the bedroom that Chris was at that time snoring away in. She could have so easily killed him there, take out all her frustrations on him, but she didn't. She knew if she did something, she'd have to sit in the cabin all by herself for a week. She hated to admit it, but she needed some kind of talking, even it was fighting. She would go crazy without some form of human interaction for an entire week.  
  
She had woken up mostly from the sunlight hitting her directly. Chris must have made sure to save her the bed closest to the window to piss her off. She couldn't believe she had to share a place with that..that..PERSON. She shuddered at the thought.  
  
She turned over, and found herself staring into the eyes of a small brown furred squirrel. It took her a minute to register what was happening. That's when her mouth opened and a loud scream flew out of it. She frantically jumped out of bed, not caring that Chris had waked up from her screech and was currently looking around like something bad had happened. Something bad did happen!  
  
"What?! What is it?!" he asked, peering at her as she pressed herself against the wall.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT RAT DOING IN MY BED!?" she asked, pointing at it fearfully. "Do something you dolt! It's going to kill me!" Chris looked at the squirrel now sitting in Stephanie's bed, confused as hell. He groaned.  
  
"Oh yes, I'm sure it can kill you..I mean..it's SO much bigger then you." he rolled his eyes when she let out a whimper. He grudgingly walked over, extending a hand to the squirrel, who quickly crawled up it. "Chill out."  
  
"It figures it's a friend of yours." she smirked, calming down slightly. "It's as ugly and annoying as you are."  
  
"Aw, Steph, it just wanted to see the new species in it's house." he sniggered. "Yes, this is what the elusive Bitch monster looks like, little fellow." He patted it's head and it chittered.  
  
"Ha ha." she replied sarcastically. "Just keep that thing away from me."  
  
"She's the PMS monster too." he explained to the squirrel on his shoulder as he walked out.  
  
She wrinkled her nose, trying to control her anger. She would not kill him..she would not kill him..she kept repeating that to herself as she stiffly followed him out. She cringed when she saw the squirrel sitting on the kitchen table, and him sitting next to it, pouring a bowl of cereal.  
  
"Get that disgusting thing off the table." she mumbled, grabbing a bowl and then sitting across from him, dropping her hands so that they rested on the table itself.  
  
"What was I thinking!" he feigned shock, then smirked. "Hey, get off the table Steph."  
  
"I'm never going to get though this week." she simply mumbled, her head falling to the table as well. She twitched, feeling something nibbling at her hair. "Chris, if that little beast is touching my hair I swear to god--"  
  
"Come on Nibblers.." she felt him pluck the thing away from her.  
  
"Nibblers? What sort of stupid name is that?" she asked, lifting her head.  
  
"And what would YOU name it?" he asked, feeding the squirrel a cheerio.  
  
"Any pet should have a distinguished name." she explained.  
  
"Right. I forgot, you come from a rich family." he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I didn't name it, Jeff left a note about him."  
  
"Figures he would name the thing something like that." she sniggered.  
  
"What do you care anyway? I mean, I thought you don't associate with us so called 'rats'."  
  
"I don't." she replied, indignant. "But you're hogging the cereal, and I'm waiting for you to hand it over."  
  
"Here." he slid it across to her, then continued to pour milk into his own bowl. She stood up, walking to where she figured the spoons were held. Opening the drawer, she pulled one out, then walked back to the table. She glanced toward Jericho who innocently smirked at her. Her bowl was all ready filled and had milk in it.  
  
She didn't comment, but sat down and began to eat. She was too hungry to say anything. She hadn't eaten since around 5 PM the day before, and all the stress was getting to her, probably even made her more hungry. She glanced towards him as he basically gulped down his own food. She marveled on how he didn't choke.  
  
"Pig." she mumbled under her breath.  
  
"I thought I was a rat." he replied, obviously hearing her. She rolled her eyes, took her bowl, and sat by the TV.  
  
She didn't want to strangle him only a few hours into this basic trap.  
  
***  
  
Jericho smiled, letting his body float lazily in the pool. It was by then mid-afternoon, and the heat was setting in. He was bored out of his mind, because Stephanie just was too easy to piss off. It wasn't even a challange anymore. But still, the water felt good, he hadn't been able to swim for a good few months.  
  
He got himself into his usual vertical position, bobbing in the seven feet pool. The sun was really beating down, as it usually did in the August months. Even in the water Jericho felt like he was sweating. He glanced at the edge of the pool and noticed the little squirrel watching him again.  
  
"I hope you're a girl." he chuckled, and the squirrel just watched him. He grinned, swiming over, patting it on the head and wetting it purposely too. It shook it's coat out and scuttled towards the house.  
  
"Watch where you're going!" he couldn't hide the grin as Stephanie stepped aside. She was coming outside, but Nibblers basically shoved her aside as the thing ran in. She rolled her eyes and walked out, her eyes on him.  
  
"All your splashing is making me lose my concentration." she informed him.  
  
"Oh how horrible." he said, trying to sound like he was truly sorry. He leaned his arms on the concrete surrounding the pool. He grinned up at her as she cautiously got closer. "You're welcome to take a swim, just try not to pollute the pool."  
  
"Funny." she replied sarcastically. "But with you in it, it's bound to be full of germs."  
  
"You need to chill out." She let out a gasp when he suddenly propelled his body out a little and grabbed her waist. He pulled her in and watched as she fell head first under water. She came up, gasping for air, as he laughed hysterically.  
  
"Chris! You're such a jerk!" she growled when she got her wind back.  
  
"You looked hot." he replied innocently. She glared at him.  
  
"You ruined my outfit!" she huffed, working her way to the edge of the pool.  
  
"You can buy 12 of those outfits." he sniggered.  
  
"That's not the point." she said as she tried to get up with no success. She groaned and worked her way to the ladder.  
  
"You call that swimming?" he asked.  
  
"Yes." she replied.  
  
"You're moving slower then a snail, widen your strokes." he advised. She glared at him.  
  
"I'm fine, thank you." she pulled herself up the ladder when she reached it, letting herself sit on the ground when she finally got out.  
  
"The wet look is so you." he grinned at her.  
  
"You are going to PAY for that." she warned, getting up, sopping wet. "Just don't talk to me, all right? Not for the rest of the week. I'm all ready sick of you."  
  
"Don't go in the house wet." he said simply before going back to floating on his back peacefully. He heard the nearby lounge chair squeak, and he guessed she was letting the sun dry her out.  
  
If she didn't want to talk, fine, he didn't care. Jeff was so wrong about ever getting rid of the anger between them. She really was what he thought she was, a stuck-up bitch. 


	5. Sun Poisoning: What Happens When You Fal...

The rest of the day, neither even looked at each other. It seemed Jeff's plan was falling apart. She had made herself a small sandwich for dinner, then retired to the den where she worked on the stuff she had been planning on working on before she found out Shane had decieved her. She found it impossible to concentrate.  
  
She glanced over her shoulder, towards him. He had been glued to the television screen for a few hours at that point. She wasn't even sure he knew what he was watching anymore. She sighed, looking back at her papers, but her mind remained on him.  
  
She knew if he was just nicer..but he wasn't, and that was the thing. She wasn't even sure what she did to deserve such hatred toward her, she didn't do anything that was so out of the ordinary to him. He had gotten ten times worse for his mouth then what she had dished out. The worst he got from her was a few gores, that, though painful, really weren't life threatening unless you were gored through something REALLY hard.  
  
Either way, his mean streak just got to her, and that was why she hated him with a passion. Of course she wasn't so over that she wouldn't admit to the fact that the guy did have looks, but it just got overshadowed by his mouth. She would never get along with him just for that point.  
  
After awhile, she knew her attempts at working were futile. She gathered her stuff, stacking it into a pile. What a waste of time this was. She was going to wring Shane's neck when he came to pick her up. She was a busy woman, she didn't have time to bicker an entire week with some idiot. Stalking towards the bedroom, she didn't even bother to glance at him again. He would be in the same position anyway.  
  
She got into her sweats and slipped into bed. After a few minutes, she managed to fall asleep, though it would end up to be short-lived. She awoke a few hours later, suddenly feeling warm air rush at her instead of the air conditioning. She opened her eyes tiredly, to find herself looking at Jericho standing out on the balcony, looking up. Forgetting the fact she was having an ongoing silent treatment, she slipped out of bed and walked toward him.  
  
"What are you looking at?" she asked, more curious then annoyed that he had woken her up. He glanced toward her, then shrugged.  
  
"The stars." he replied simply. She glanced up too, and realized why he was looking so long. "I thought you weren't talking to me."  
  
"Oh, wow!" she said, sounding awed, pretending he hadn't mentioned her little outburst of earlier. The sky was crystal clear, she had never seen anything like it. The stars were perfectly visible, hell, they gave off light, just like the moon did. "I've never seen anything like it.."  
  
"You've never seen stars?" he asked.  
  
"Well, of course I've seen them but not this clear." she explained, her eyes still heaven-ward.  
  
"You should check out Canada." Jericho grinned. "Stars like these are easily seen."  
  
"I've been to Canada before." she said, looking at him. "Though, I don't think I ever bothered to look up."  
  
"I would think you only went there on business." he shrugged. "It's a great place to relax though."  
  
"Daddy took me when I was younger..probably around 19..wanted me to check out the talent with him." she shrugged. "I saw a lot of the insides of all those training centers though. I was there half the time, watching my father."  
  
"Sounds boring." he commented. She nodded.  
  
"Business is business, he used to say." she grinned. "I don't think he ever thought I'd get into it. Ever."  
  
"But now you're screwin' him over." he smirked. "Pretty big change, I'll say."  
  
"It was Shane's idea." she shrugged. "I just went along with it. My dad deserves it. You never saw what he did to me, his own daughter.."  
  
"I guess you're talking about him letting UT sacrifice you or whatever.." she nodded. "But, if you ask me, you're making more people suffer then just your dad."  
  
"That wasn't my idea." she interjected. "I never wanted it to go this far. I wanted to take money out of my dad's wallet, that's all. I'm just following Shane and Paul now."  
  
"I was just saying." he shrugged. "I don't really care what you do. I just know I'm not going down without a fight." He glanced at her. "Whatever you guys throw at me."  
  
"You know, I don't understand you." she replied. "Why are you fighting for my dad? He's been more of a jerk to you then I ever have been." He stood up straight from his leaning position, looking her straight in the eyes.  
  
"I'm not fighting for him." he explained. "I'm fighting for my company, and my friends in it. I'm loyal to the company that, though has given me some challanges, always ended up being there for me. You don't understand that, no one is fighting for Vince at all. The Alliance is fighting for someone."  
  
"And who is that?" she asked, smirking.  
  
"Paul Heyman." he responded, turning. She watched him walk back to his bed, knowing she could respond in some way, but realizing that she might not believe herself if she did.  
  
****  
  
Chris sighed. Second day in the cabin, he was all ready bored. He longed for more contact then just the very cranky Mrs McMahon-Helmsley. She seemed a lot quieter then the day before, it was like something was bugging her. He didn't bother asking, he'd probably just end up being the recipient of another angry glare. She really wasn't a friendly person..  
  
He was wasting the day away by watching TV and stuffing himself with popcorn. Nibblers was about as lazy as him, sitting curled up against his leg. It was still weird having the thing around, considering most squirrels were scary little things that Chris had had many run-ins with, and all turned out to be him being chased by the little suckers.  
  
He was so bored he had gotten to the point he was watching reruns of those old shows that his parents used to watch when he was little. He stretched out at one point, scratching his side. he glanced around then, realizing he hadn't been yelled at for a good 2 hours. She was no where to be seen.  
  
He left the house to find her lying in the sun. If Jericho didn't know better, he could actually let himself think that she looked pretty good in her bikini. Thing was, she looked like she was frying, and she was asleep as well. He walked over, peering down at her.  
  
"I think you're overcooked." he commented, poking her lightly. She opened her eyes, looking up at him.  
  
"Oh my god!" she yelped, surprised that he was standing over her. "..What time is it?"  
  
"No clue, but I haven't seen you for two hours, so I think you've been cooking that long." he explained. "You better get inside." She groaned and got up, following him inside.  
  
And boy, was he right. By the time dinner came around, she was still in that bikini, only it was because she had to put icepacks on her aching burn. He tried not to snigger as she stretched out on the couch, wincing in pain, covered in a horde of ice.  
  
"You look like a tomato." he snickered.  
  
"Chris, if I could get up, I'd strangle you. Let's call it a rain check."  
  
"Sun check." He grinned as she turned her head slightly to glare at him.  
  
"Ooh, it hurts.." she winced.  
  
"I suppose you want me to find something else, huh?" he rolled his eyes. HE was the one who had to find her that ice.  
  
"This IS your fault." she pouted.  
  
"My fault? You were the idiot who went to sleep in the sun!" he mumbled.  
  
"You should have woke me up. Now go." she commanded. Knowing he would have to listen to her bitch all night if he didn't, he did as he was asked.  
  
He looked through Jeff's medicine cabinet. Then he spotted it, the odd green goo that he himself always used on burns like that. Grabbing it, he walked back to her, showing it to her proudly.  
  
"This stuff kicks ass." he explained to her as she glanced sleepily at it.  
  
"Good. Use it." he looked at her and noticed she was in some sort of daze, and he wondered if she had a slight case of sun poisoning. Still now she was requesting him to actually touch her body, even if it was just putting on some of the gooey crap. No normal Stephanie would request that, even if she was dying from it.  
  
He looked at her leg. It was pretty red. If she had stayed out there any longer, she probably would have a full blown case of it, which would have not been good considering the fact the hospital was unreachable. "I don't know what I did to deserve this.." he mumbled under his breath, squirting some of the stuff on his hand. "Just hold still."  
  
"Mmhmm.." she nodded slightly, then winced. He let his hand slide across her leg, and she seemed to just twitch. He stopped just at her knee, not wanting to go any more up. She could do that herself when she was fully awake. He did the same with her other leg. He pulled off the remaining ice packs, trying not to laugh at how ironic it was that around the same time yesterday they weren't even speaking to each other.  
  
He made sure to do her stomach quick, and he felt her abs convulse at his touch. She was obviously ticklish. He made quick work of that, then followed up by finishing up with her arms and face. By the time he was done, she was peacefully asleep. Walking to the sink, he washed his hands off, then put the bottle down. He couldn't believe he had just done that, perhaps being stuck in the cabin was driving him insane.  
  
He rolled his eyes, noting that she was suddenly shivering. Mumbling something about damning his good nature, he grabbed a blanket and drapped it over her. She stopped pretty quickly, and again was silent.  
  
She remained there the rest of the night, sometimes waking up a little, but ultimately falling asleep again. He just let her rest, hoping the sickness would get out of her system by the morning. He remembered when his friend got a little case of it..it wasn't pretty at all.. 


	6. So, What Happens When Your Enemy Is Puki...

She woke up and in seconds the wave of nausea hit her. Though her whole body ached, she quickly ran to the bathroom and just let it out. She slid to the ground, feeling dizzy. She all ready understood she had some sort of sun poisoning, and she promised herself on the ground at that moment that she'd never go out in the sun again.  
  
She didn't remember anything that had happened after she had laid down and put ice packs on her. She just barely remembered feeling something happening, and by the way she smelled, she figured he had put something on her to ease the pain of the burn. She was too sick to be angry that he dared touch her, actually, she might even go as far to say she was thankful for doing that.  
  
She felt sick again, and proved it as she hurled up her last few lunches. She managed to flush the toliet, and wearily sighed, trying not to notice how much the world was spinning. She had to have a fever, because she felt deathly cold. Leaning against the wooden wall of the bathroom, she tried to ease her pain as best as she could by closing her eyes, which blocked her from her blurred vision which kept making her feel like she wanted to throw up a few more meals.  
  
"Steph?" she opened her eyes briefly, her eyes glancing up at Jericho, who looked like he had just woken up. She mumbled something incoherently, or at least she couldn't understand herself. She felt a cool hand touch her cheek.  
  
"You're burning up." she felt like laughing bitterly at how true that statement was.  
  
"I have to.." she suddenly, more instinctively, pulled herself to the toliet, puking on a little on that occassion. During it, she felt him push the hair back, and when she fell back she opened her eyes to see him still by her side. "You're a jerk."  
  
"Well, at least you can still tell who I am." he grinned good naturely, though, even though her fevered daze, she noted a hint of worry in it as well. "Come on, let's get you off this floor.." She didn't even bother to reply, knowing he would anyway. She felt herself being lifted, and then carried somewhere. She opened her eyes to see him grabbing clothing.  
  
"I'm not going through your stuff." he explained, pushing her up into a sitting position. "But you need something to keep you warm I think, so here." She felt him push a shirt over her, and it was probably about a good few sizes bigger then her actual body. She winced, the fabric touching her burn, but let him put it on fully. She couldn't fight back anyway, even if she wanted too.  
  
"I'm tired.." she mumbled. She felt him pull some sort of shorts onto him, then what she wanted--the feel of a pillow. Sighing lightly, she mumbled something again into her pillow, not really making any words, just making noise.  
  
She kept hearing noises, like the sound of some kind of pan hitting the ground, and scuffling. She couldn't believe she was welcoming his care, but then again..she didn't have too much of a choice, did she? She finally felt herself slip into sleep.  
  
***  
  
He had been sitting there for hours, watching her sleep. She had gotten as sick as he thought she would, and she had been out cold for a good 4 or 5 hours by then. He put the rag he had been putting on her head to cool off the fever back into the bowl of fresh water, and reapplied it.  
  
"You better not die on me McMahon." he informed her as she continued to sleep away. Her fever hadn't broken yet. "And this isn't a bit of my fault, you know. This is not going on my conscience. I'm helping you, I'm doing the right thing. I mean, I didn't HAVE too. Well, OK, maybe I did, but..whatever. Why the hell am I talking to you anyway? It's not like you can hear me."  
  
He fell silent, watching her sleep. He couldn't believe that he, Chris Jericho, was actually..worried..about her. It had to be cabin fever, or something like that. Maybe the sun got to him too. She would just go back to being a bitch once she got better, he figured.   
  
"Mm.." his eyes glanced up as he noticed her stirring. She opened her eyes, and he watched them seem to scan the area. She finally noticed him, and she blinked. "Chris?" Her voice sounded strained.  
  
"Here, try to get this down." He reached over, grabbing a glass of ginger ale, that was thankfully around. She sat up slightly as he handed it carefully to her. She sipped it, then made a face. "I don't like it much either, but it'll calm your stomach down." She drank a little more, then Chris took it.  
  
"I feel like shit." she whispered.  
  
"Sun poisoning does that to you." he replied. "Listen, thank God I got you in when I did. Any longer, you would probably have needed medical attention, something we can't get."  
  
"Thank you." she replied, wincing, probably from the burn.  
  
"What, I'm not a jerk anymore?" he chuckled. "You remember who I am, right?"  
  
"Remember me to strangle you." she smirked. "..After the world stops spinning.."  
  
"You should be better by tomorrow." he explained. "Just rest now." he dunked the rag again, draping it on her forehead. She twitched as the coolness hit her. "You look better all ready."  
  
"Then why do I feel like I'm about to die?" she squeaked. She obviously still wasn't very aware of her surroundings.  
  
"Think of it as the stomach virus." he shrugged. She let out a large sigh. "It'll get better, really."  
  
"I believe you." she murmured, sounding like she was drifting back into her sleeping state. He found himself letting out a small smile.  
  
"Just sleep." he said comfortingly. A few minutes later, she was back asleep. He changed the rag one more time before walking out into the kitchen. Nibblers looked pretty hungry, so he fed the little thing a few scraps. He sat at the table and grabbed himself an apple, not feeling too hungry though he hadn't eaten for a good long while. He sighed.  
  
"What are you looking at?" he glared at the squirrel that was looking at him curiously. "If you think I'm worried about her, you're wrong." The squirrel twitched it's nose. "I'm only helping her because I don't want to get blamed for her dying or something. Aw man, now I'm talking to squirrels.." He let his head drop to the counter, his hair splaying around his face, hiding it. He winced feeling the squirrel tug at his hair. "Will you quit biting my hair?" It tugged harder, and he raised his head. "I said--"  
  
He watched as Nibblers hopped off the counter and into the room Stephanie was in. Blinking, he had a feeling he should follow, so he did. He walked in to see Stephanie standing, seeming to be trying to walk, while also swaying harshly. She really looked drunk.  
  
"I have to go do things.." she mumbled, sounding half asleep. Jericho caught her as her knees buckled under her.  
  
"I gotcha!" he said as he managed to pull her to her feet. "What did I tell you about resting?" She nuzzled into his chest.  
  
"You're warm." was her response. He rolled his eyes, dragging her back toward the bed. He slid her back into it, and she didn't fight back. "I'm sorry." she whispered.  
  
"For what?" he asked, covering her again. She didn't respond. She was asleep again.  
  



	7. Looks Like Jeff's Plan Is Working..

It was like waking up from a long dream. She opened her eyes, lazily, her sight blurring then focusing to it's usual state of seeing. Her head hurt, but it was a dull pain. She blinked a few times, trying to remember how she had gotten there. The memories came like broken glass, in little pieces, and all seemed to have a dream-like feel to them. In all of them , though, there was one constant.  
  
Chris.  
  
She looked down at herself, noticing the huge green shirt and large boxers hugging her body. She didn't know where they came from, that was one thing that she must have been fully unconcious during. Shrugging, she sat up, then felt something jab her side.  
  
She looked down and found Chris Jericho, himself, sitting in a chair next to her bed, sleeping soundly, his feet a little on the bed, like a leg rest. Though it was raining outside, it was light, and she figured he must have slept by her side the entire night. She blinked, a little surprised. That wasn't exactly what she would expect from someone like..him.  
  
She nudged Chris, wincing a little as the sun burn got a little aggravated by her movements. "Chris, wake up." she whispered. He stirred, opening his eyes. He blinked, still a little dazed.  
  
"I'm up..really.." he yawned, stretching. She rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm sure." she replied. "Did you..how long have you been in that position?"  
  
"Not long." he lied. She didn't look convinced. "All right, maybe a little while."  
  
"You slept there all night didn't you?" she asked. He seemed visably embarrassed.  
  
"..Maybe.." he shrugged. "It's no big deal." He stood up and blantly cracked his stiff back. "Ow." She stood up, stretching herself. "You know, you're not allowed outside again while you're with me. You ruined one of my shirts when ya puked all over me. I didn't know I digusted you that much." he grinned. He suddenly found her hugging his waist, and he blinked, a little shocked. "Um.."  
  
"No one has ever done that for me." she told him. Chris turned visibly red, but patted her back in a sort of half-hug.  
  
"Erm..it wasn't that big of a deal." he said, sounding a bit embarrassed. She let him go, suddenly turned red herself. Where had that come from?  
  
"I'm sorry." she whispered, realizing she had just made a fool out of herself. She walked past him, not noticing the confused look on Chris's face.  
  
She didn't want to go outside in the rain, so she instead sat all the way on the other end of the cabin, still in her big baggy clothing, sitting on the ledge by the biggest window in the area. She curled her knees to her chest, hiding her face in her arms. What had gotten into her? She was hugging her enemies now? Why didn't she hate him anymore? The cabin was driving her nuts, that had to be it.  
  
"Steph?" she flinched at his voice.  
  
"I'm sorry." she apologized again, not looking up.  
  
"What, is hugging me that bad?" he asked, letting out a dry chuckle. He was trying to make her feel better, it seemed. "Hey, what are you getting all bent out of shape for?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know.." she glanced up at him, actually letting out a slight glare. "I just hugged my enemy of a year, whom I'm stuck with for the next couple of days still. Why can't you just keep being a jerk? It was easier."  
  
"Well I'm sorry I'm not up to your jerk standards." he scratched the back of his head. "Would you like me to do something to you? Name it, I'll do it." he grinned. "There's a pie in the--"  
  
"Chris, it isn't funny." she informed him stubbornly. He sighed.  
  
"What would you like me to do?" he asked, sitting on the other side of the ledge. "Because now it seems that when I'm nice to you, you get mad at that too."  
  
"I'm not mad." she mumbled.  
  
"Then why are you yelling at me for not being a jerk?" he asked. "That's the part I'm confused about."  
  
"Well, why are you being nice to me?" she asked, suspiously. "I mean, for the last year you've been like..pissing me off every chance you had. Now you're sitting by my bedside when I'm sick? Chris, you don't even understand, no one has ever done that for me, no male anyway. Not my dad, not my brother, not even Hunter..there's something wrong with this picture."  
  
"Yeah, you really need to get some nicer guys in your life." he grinned.  
  
"No, you're up to something." she looked at him, giving him an accusing glance. "You cannot be the nicer guy. That's unbelievable."  
  
"Steph, chill out." Chris rolled his eyes. "All I did was sit by you. I've done it before with Lita. She didn't go all crazy on me."  
  
"Because Lita never hated you! I hated you." she informed him bluntly. "This is not suppose to be happening. You're suppose to be a jerk, I'm suppose to want to strangle you. Hell, you're even suppose to hate me, but you aren't showing that."  
  
"I've never hated you." he blinked.  
  
"Whatever." she mumbled.  
  
"No, really!"  
  
"Well, I've hated what you've stood for, but never you yourself. I don't hate people I don't know." he shrugged.  
  
"For the past year you've done all that stuff because you didn't like what I STOOD for?" she asked, incrediously. He nodded. "How stupid is that?!"  
  
"Not very stupid, actually." he grinned proudly.  
  
"You've got to be kidding me." She groaned. "Listen, I'm sorry for freaking out, this never happened..none of this.." she shook her head.  
  
"Um..if I am to forget this, you'll really need to stop looking like you're about to jump out of your skin if something touches you." he chuckled. She glared at him.  
  
"Shut the hell up."  
  
"There you go using my catch phrases again.."  
  
****  
  
"Think they patched it up yet?" Jeff asked Matt idly. Matt shrugged.  
  
"I'm telling you, they don't like each other. I am not going to even think of what Chris is going to do to us..hell, especially to you." Matt shuddered. "Your neck is gonna be broken, man."  
  
"He'll be coming back thanking me." Jeff said.  
  
"A week with Stephanie McMahon? I still say we're going to find a dead body." Lita spoke up, snickering.  
  
"You guys are so wrong." Jeff beamed. "I know what I'm talking about."  
  
"I can't believe Vince bought your story." Shane rolled his eyes.  
  
Jeff grinned. All right, so he lied a little to Vince. So he told Vince that Chris's grandmother died, even though to his knowledge Chris all ready used that excuse. Actually, the poor old lady had to have died at least a dozen times. The trick was to tell him when he's busy. Vince never paid attention at points like that.  
  
"Like your excuse was any better." Jeff snickered.  
  
"Hey, telling Heyman and Shane that their sister decided to head off on a little vacation for herself isn't bad. It's also slightly true." Shane explained.  
  
"Well, you know if this plan doesn't go through.." Lita trailed off.  
  
"Yep, I'll be getting the axe." Shane winced. "Gotta think positive though. Chris better be as charmingly idiotic as people say he is."  
  
"Charmingly idiotic..that's a new one." Lita mused. "Usually he's just an idiot."  
  
"Psh, you know if I wasn't around you'd be all over him." Matt laughed. Lita turned red.  
  
"But the thing is you ARE around." Lita quickly replied, then grinned at him. "And if you want to stay around, sweetie.."  
  
"All right, all right, I'll be quiet." Matt pouted.  
  
"Wait a second, you liked Chris?" Jeff spoke up. He ducked as a towel was chucked at him. "It was just a question!"  
  
"Either way, right about now HE better like HER, like YOU said." Shane said, pointing to Jeff. "And SHE better end up liking HIM as well."  
  
"Relax." Jeff grinned. "Everything is under control."   
  
"Well, you're the one picking them up, you better hope so." Matt chuckled.  
  
"You're throwing me to the wolves alone?" Jeff asked, shocked.  
  
"This was your idea, you deal with it." Matt responded, patting his brother's back. Jeff glared at him, then mumbled. 


	8. Blackouts Aren't Cool

Chris watched the rain splatter against the window. It was even worse being stuck in the cabin without being able to go outside. The rain was coming down harder it seemed, then it was when Chris woke up that morning. That morning..  
  
She really hadn't spoken since what happened happened. He glanced at her, she was curled up on the couch, just sort of staring off into space. She must have had full blown cabin fever earlier, or something of that sort. She had hugged him. He wasn't expecting it, but he didn't mind it. He could have laughed, just a few days before he would have never thought hugging any McMahon wouldn't make him even a little squimish.  
  
Then again, a few days ago, he didn't think there was a McMahon who'd hug him. Well, OK, maybe Vince, but luckily he was too busy hugging Kurt. Hey, power to him.  
  
He paused, thinking of Vince. From the way Stephanie reacted, it didn't seem he was too huggy with her. Chris didn't actually know why he had freaked out the day before when she got sick, and frankly it freaked him out as well--in a non-verbal way, of course. What he was quickly learning about Stephanie was that she wore her heart on her sleeve so to speak, and she didn't seem to like being like that.  
  
That was when the lights went out.  
  
He blinked. "Just great.." he mumbled. He let out a yelp when he felt something touch his shoulder.  
  
"It's just me." a voice from the darkness whispered. He glanced into the darkness, using the feeble light coming out of the window to see.  
  
"Steph?" he asked, barely making out her body shape. She walked closer.  
  
"The lights went out." she informed.  
  
"Brilliant deduction." he chuckled dryly. "I'll go out and kick in the back-up."  
  
"Outside? Now?" Stephanie asked, sounding incredulous.  
  
"Yeah." he stood up, walking to the kitchen area, grabbing a flashlight from a large drawer which seemed to have a few of them. He walked to Stephanie and gave her one of her own. "I'll have the lights back on in a second." He switched on the flashlight, pointing it at her. "Stay here."  
  
"Chris.." she sounded worried.  
  
"Hey, I'll be fine. It's just a little rain." he grinned.  
  
"That's coming in sheets. Chris, the wind's insane out there too. Don't be stupid, we can be in the dark for awhile." she replied.  
  
"You need to calm down." he chuckled, opening the door, the rain smashing him and her all ready. He turned around. "I'll be back."  
  
"Chris..!" she cried out, suddenly pulling him toward her. They both tumbled to the ground, him land on top of her. Chris heard a smash and he managed to dazedly look up to see a very very big stick had just smashed through the door. The rain and wind flung it so hard it probably would have pierced him in the back. It pierced a small glass window instead.  
  
"Chris..can you..um.." her voice was muffled, and he turned red when he realized her was basically lying on her. He rolled off her, staring even more at the destroyed window that could have been him.  
  
"Oh my god." was all he managed to utter. The wind flew in through the window and slammed the door shut.  
  
"Are you all right?" she asked. She was kneeling beside him, taking one of his arms into her hand. He looked down at it, he was so numb from shock he didn't even notice that his arm was bleeding from landing on the cabin's floor. His arm must have caught on a nail or something. Thank god for those tetanus shots. The blood was flowing a good amount, not too bad but enough that it ended up on her hands.  
  
"You saved me." he finally said, looking at her.  
  
"We need to stop this from bleeding. Stay there." He did as he was told, clutching his arm, but still not exactly all there enough to feel it. He could barely believe what had just happened. He saw a light coming toward him, and of course it was Stephanie, who now had a First Aid kit.  
  
"Does it hurt?" she asked.  
  
"I'm not sure." he replied honestly. She shook her head and chuckled.  
  
"You're a stubborn bastard." she shook her head, letting out a small laugh. He managed a weak smile. He watched her silently take out a large cotton cloth and an unmarked bottle. She poured some on the contents onto the cloth. "Hold still, this is going to hurt like a bitch."  
  
He groaned when it touched his sore. "Oww! OW!" He winced, feeling the medicine seeping into the wound.  
  
"Stop being such a baby." she smirked, putting more on and applying it again. "If I don't do this it'll get infected and you'll have to be Chris Jericho the one armed wrestler."  
  
"I can dress up like a pirate!" he replied proudly, pushing the shock away.  
  
"Um..Chris, pirates are missing a leg and an eye, not an arm." she informed, smirking.  
  
"Damn." he mumbled.  
  
"See? Not so bad." she grinned, noticing he wasn't wincing as much anymore.  
  
"I guess so." he shrugged. He looked at her. "You realize you just saved me, right?"  
  
"Think nothing of it." she winked at him. "That's what you get for not listening to me."  
  
"Shaddup." he mumbled. She laughed a bit, pulling out a large wrap-around bandage.  
  
"I'm going to make this tight to stop the blood, OK?" she asked.  
  
"All right.." he trailed off, watching her try to carefully wrap his arm without hurting him. After she finished, she peered at him, the only light offered was at that point flooding out through the little flashlight.   
  
"That should be goo--"  
  
He leaned forward and kissed her. He was probably more surprised then her when she didn't pull back.  
  
****  
  
She wondered why now it felt even more weird then it did when she found out she had to be with him the entire week. The kiss..it was so perfect, so nice..and because of that, it scared her. She wasn't suppose to enjoy that. She was Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, she was married and she also was suppose to hate him with a passion.  
  
She had a feeling of passion all right, but it wasn't hatred.  
  
What scared her was that she knew what had happened was something she had wanted for a long, long time. She, the biggest businesswoman in any federation at that point, had a crush on a loud mouthed, disrespectful, obnixous guy that wasn't even in her company. Then the little voice inside her reminded her that he also was the only guy that had ever cared about her, and even after all that she had done to him!  
  
They had started the fireplace, because it was actually pretty cold in the house. The storm was still raging, and the wind kept making the rain splash against the windows, making them rattle loudly. The fact they were dripping wet didn't help. Neither of them wanted to attempt to look for anything in the dark, so instead they got the fireplace working.  
  
She was curled up against him, on the couch near the fireplace. His arm had ended up around her, resting idly on her side. Hise bandaged arm was resting on the arm rest. She was really dozing at that point, the warm glow making her tired. They hadn't said a word to each other since the kiss, but instead let the silence talk for them. She knew her sun burn was not agreeing with all the contact, but she could care less.  
  
He was asleep, he had been for a good 15 minutes. She watched him for awhile, still not fully believing what was happening. Stephanie McMahon, cuddled against her old enemy. Chris really needed to learn how to keep people mad at him.  
  
She sighed, her mind quickly reminding her that she would not be in the cabin forever. This wasn't reality. This would never be able to go on once they were freed from the high tech prison they were locked in. She didn't want to think about it, but if it continued how it was, she would find herself really attached to him. She so wanted to be, but knew if it happened..  
  
She softly got up, guiding his hand to his own side. She looked at him sleeping, then leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek. He only twitched, and she smiled sadly. "I'm sorry." she whispered to his sleeping form. She knew what she was going to have to do, and she didn't like it.  
  
She was going to have to break his heart. 


	9. Steph Sucks At Lying..

Chris woke up, noticing the sound of the rain was gone. The storm was over. "Thank god." he mumbled. He saw she had disappeared somewhere, and for some reason he just had a feeling that something was wrong. Getting up, he stretched, looking over to the now nearly gone fire. He must have been asleep for awhile. It was dark outside. He grabbed the flashlight he put near him, and went off to look for her.  
  
She was in the bedroom, in the dark. She didn't even look up when the light brightened the room. Yeah, now he knew something was wrong.  
  
"Steph?" he asked, softly.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked, a gruffness to her voice. Chris blinked, a little confused.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing." she spat. He frowned.  
  
"Listen, maybe we should tal--"  
  
"We have nothing to talk about." she quickly interrupted him.  
  
"Um..did I say something in my sleep or something?" he scratched his head.  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, anyway..yeah, we do have something to talk about." he paused. "You know, you saved me, I kissed you..that little situation."  
  
"There's nothing to talk about." she repeated.  
  
"Considering that you kissed me back--"  
  
"Listen, you have this wrong. I only kissed you because I was surprised, that's all. I have my head now. I'm sorry if you thought anything differently." she replied bluntly. Chris blinked, a little hurt.  
  
"Just surprised, huh?" he asked, sounding a little disappointed. Actually, that was an understatement, he might have been heart broken.  
  
"Yes." she said, but Chris noticed a slight waver in her voice. He paused, realizing what she was doing quite suddenly. "Now go away." He didn't go away, but advanced closer.  
  
"I don't believe you." he informed her, looking at her steadily with the light of his flashlight. She didn't look at him, maybe she couldn't? "Look at me and tell me it meant nothing, Stephanie. I'll believe you then." She raised her eye level to meet his, but then quickly lowered it again. "That's what I thought."  
  
"Just go away." she repeated. He realized that tears were streaming down her face. He lifted her chin lightly, letting his hand wipe away the tears. She let out a loud sigh. "It's pointless, Chris." she whispered. "It's so pointless."  
  
He outstretched his hand and she took it, letting him pull her up with his good arm. He made her look him in the eyes. "Nothing is pointless." he informed her. "This had to be some sort of weird twist of fate." Chris tried not to laugh about the pun he had just accidently made.  
  
"This isn't reality, Chris." she cried out. "When we get out of here, this'll never go through. Both of our reps would be ruined."  
  
"Then why don't we live for the now?" he asked. "If this could only happen here..let's enjoy it while it lasts."  
  
"But.."  
  
"Fuck reality, Steph..you have nothing to lose, and neither do I!" he exclaimed.  
  
"I don't know.." she sighed.  
  
"What are you so afraid of?" he asked her softly.  
  
"I'm afraid..of leaving here and never feeling like how I feel right now." she admitted. "I'm scared because I know these feelings were always there, and now that they're unearthed..Chris, what if they don't go away?"  
  
"We'll figure something out." he smiled. "But for now, Steph, let's enjoy this solitarity. Who could see us?"  
  
"Nibblers." She pointed to the squirrel who was sitting on other bed, watching them curiously. Chris laughed.  
  
"Yeah well, I don't think he'll talk." Chris smirked.  
  
"You never know." she shrugged, then paused. "As for pretending reality doesn't exist..I don't think I can do it.." His eyes fell at her words, but she continued. "..but I'm willing to give it a try, for you.."  
  
He suddenly found her lips against his, and the kiss that came out of it was needy, like it was very much overdue. It WAS overdue, and god, it felt so good to him. Chris almost didn't want it to end.  
  
****  
  
She could barely believe it. It was still a little shocking waking up feeling him cradle her in his arms, a silent sleep embrace that had stayed the same through the night. The feeling of just sleeping next to Chris gave her more happiness then she ever had with Hunter. She didn't even care about him anymore, no one knew it, but he was planning on divorcing her anyway. Stephanie didn't give a shit, he could have left months ago.  
  
The night before would be worth anything that was in the future of her life.  
  
She reached her free arm up to brush a lock his hair out of his face. This really was beyond reality. She wondered if she had some thing for tall blonde Canadians. Looking at her track record, the only person that wasn't fitting that catagory was Kurt. She didn't know how that little adventure in dating got so out of control.  
  
He was sweet though, sweeter then Hunter. Hell, Chris was probably sweeter then Hunter when he was being a little prick. She didn't know why she stayed with that man for so long..but it didn't matter then. She was Stephanie McMahon, and she was in the arms of Chris Jericho. Strange? Yes. Did she care? Hell no.  
  
She noticed him waking. His eyelids raised and he sleepily looked toward her. She gave him a small smile, and he grinned back, still half asleep. "Good morning." she whispered.  
  
"Mm..morning all ready?' he questioned softly. "I don't want to get up." He pulled her closer, into a hug almost. She snuggled into his chest, sighing contently. It was still surprising she could find all the affection she ever wanted with him. God, if this only didn't have to end..  
  
She stopped thinking about that, giggling a little. "Chris, I have to go to the bathroom."  
  
"Hold it in." he replied, yawning. He looked down at her and noted her glare. "All right, all right..girls!" he rolled to the side of the bed, letting his legs free themselves from the blanket. She made haste to the bathroom.  
  
She ended up being in there for an hour. All right, so she did a little more then went to the bathroom. She also took a shower, which of course took time. When she came out, she was dressed in entirely new clothing, and her hair was just..wet. Though the power was back, the hair dryer was being a bitch.  
  
"The wet rat look is good on ya." he joked as she walked to him. He was sitting eating a hardy breakfast of toast and..burnt something. It was so black she didn't know what it was.  
  
"Looks as good as your meal." she chuckled.  
  
"I'll have you know this is good." he waved the black thing. He blinked as half of it broke off and landed on the ground. Nibblers sniffed at it, and Stephanie couldn't contain her giggles when the little squirrel high tailed it away from it.  
  
"When the little rat doesn't eat it.." she trailed off.  
  
"Man, when did he go on your side?" Chris pouted.  
  
"Let me make you sometime." he raised a brow at her.  
  
"What's this? Steph, I never took you for Susie Homemaker." he chuckled.  
  
"I can make scrambled eggs, obviously." she beamed. "And they won't be BLACK."  
  
"Black is a good color." he shrugged. She opened the refridgerator, pulling out the eggs.  
  
"Let's see.." she pondered outloud. "Hashbrowns..ham..cheese.." She grabbed all the items, which were all thankfully there.  
  
"You're putting all that junk in it?" he questioned. She smirked.  
  
"Do no question genius." she winked at him, beginning to make it. Chris watched her in interest.  
  
20 minutes later, Chris was looking down at a perfectly made meal, and she smiled at him.  
  
"I bet Nib--" he stopped short when the squirrel hopped onto the table and took a little bit of Chris's food, gobbling it down. "Get out of here, squirrel!" he shooed it away and it did so. He grumbled something under his breath.  
  
"Just try it." she laughed. He sighed and nodded, picking up some of it with a fork, easily sticking it in his mouth. He chewed, looking thoughtful.  
  
"Could use some more pepper." he grinned. She gave him a look. "Kidding. It's great. Where'd you learn to cook?"  
  
"My Nana." she nodded. "She was the best cook ever."  
  
"Nana?" he questioned, stuffing a bit more into his mouth.  
  
"Yeah, she was this nice old black servant our family had. Loyal from the minute she started working for us. She took care of me, so I called her that." she smiled. "She told me when I was around 15 that I didn't need to ever cook when I asked her to teach me, but when she saw I wanted to she did. After awhile my dad thought she was dividing my attention, so she..was fired." she paused, eating a little of her own food. "My parents were good, but they were always just a little too busy. Anyway, Shane is always going to be the favorite child."  
  
"What makes you say that?"  
  
"Come on, Chris. He's the first born, and he's a guy to boot. If this Invasion thing calms down, you know Dad will hand over the company to him. There's no room for me." she shook her head.  
  
"Well I can't say I know the feeling. I was an only child." Chris grinned, stuffing his face again.  
  
"I all ready figured that out." she smiled.  
  
"An what's THAT suppose to mean?"  
  
"You're a spoiled brat, and don't even think about saying otherwise." she giggled. He pouted.  
  
"Am not." he replied, making Stephanie laugh even more.  
  
"Your dad was a hockey player, right?" she asked. Chris grinned.  
  
"I'm surprised you know that." he commented. She shrugged. "Yeah, he was. I ended up just like him, I suppose. Only instead of brutality on ice, it's brutality in a square circle."  
  
"I bet he's proud of you." she chuckled.  
  
"He tells me I'm too outspoken." he laughed.  
  
"That's an understatement." she rolled her eyes.  
  
"So I have a loud mouth. There's nothing wrong with that." he had finished the entire bowl he was given.  
  
"Well, I suppose you wouldn't be you without it." she smiled. He nodded vigorously.  
  
"Must be doing something right, you DO find me hot." he grinned proudly.  
  
"Don't be so full of yourself." she laughed. He beamed.  
  
"Well, you didn't disagree.." he pointed out. She blushed.  
  
"I was getting to that." she mumbled.  
  
"Uh-huh." he teased. She finally let a little smile out.  
  
"And like you don't think I'm hot." she shot back. He quickly shut up.  
  
Bingo. 


	10. The Last Day..Swimmin's Coo.

Chris didn't want to admit it, but by the time the day ended, he was starting to wish he didn't have to leave her. The day after tomorrow was the day when Jeff was getting them, and from what he suspected they would be picked up early. After that, it was over. Done. They couldn't possibly be together.  
  
Unless..  
  
He sighed. He couldn't possibly desert his entire team for her, as much as he would love too. He had more of a chance to change her mind on being ECW's owner, because from the very short conversation he had with her dealing with that, she seemed almost remorseful. She wasn't like Paul and Shane, she only was in it with them to get back at her deadbeat father..  
  
Shane and Paul were in it for the power.  
  
Power..it had corrupted at least Shane. Shane was a decent guy until Paul got to him. Now Shane was about as insane as his ol' dad was..like father like son, it seemed. For awhile Chris thought Stephanie was the same, but the past week had shown him the side he had always seemed to miss. Or pretend to miss, at least. Actually, now that he thought about it, he had seen the nice side of her a few times..  
  
And he quickly got her out of it by being horribly nasty and mean to her. He really needed to be a little nicer to people. Still, it had to make him wonder..was he happier now knowing that she was possibly the most amazing person he had ever met, or did he still wish he hadn't gotten stuck in this cabin? He all ready knew the answer to that.  
  
He wouldn't trade the week for all the money in the world.  
  
She had been asleep for a good hour. He glanced down at her, his eyes scanning her body even though it was cloaked in the darkness of the night. It was weird to think of all people she would make him have that 'warm, fuzzy' feeling that people always talked about when they were in..whoa, Chris hadn't realized it gone that far.  
  
He looked at her again. She had shifted herself in her sleep, so her head was cuddled basically into his neck. He could feel her breath against his skin, and it involuntarily made a shiver run down his spine. She wasn't suppose to make him feel the way she did. It was somewhat like bliss, perhaps even better.  
  
He wrapped an arm around her lightly, smiling as she shifted in her sleep to get comfortable against his arm. There was something wrong with this whole thing, his feelings changed from basic hate to utmost--dare he say it, love? He wondered if the hate was ever there in the first place. Maybe he had just pretended to hate her the entire time, maybe he just didn't want to admit that he liked her..  
  
And it all came out in one week. He let himself slide down so he lying down fully, careful not to wake her up. He pulled her closer and let his head rest on the top of her head. She curled up closer to him unconciously, and Chris fell asleep with a small smile on his face.  
  
***  
  
She wasn't blind, wasn't stupid. She knew that the next day would see them seperated again. It wasn't fair, it really wasn't. Stephanie couldn't help but not be so upbeat about it. She would have to go back, she would have to pretend everything was OK. And she would have to go to Hunter..  
  
She flinched at the idea of that.  
  
Hunter could never make her happy after these last few days. For the longest time, she figured he was the best she could ever get. But it was all different now, she suddenly had this person in her life that actually cared about her, not her money, not her status..just her.  
  
"It figures I finally meet someone perfect and it turns out to be someone I can't date." she mumbled to herself. She had been lying on the bed for a few minutes by then, and Nibblers was sitting on it too, watching her. Nibblers, who had obviously reconciled with her after her not so nice attitude the first few days, seemed to try to comfort her. "You understand me, don't you?" The squirrel just looked at her, and she smiled. 'I guess you're not so bad after all."  
  
She affectionantly rubbed his cheek and she giggled when he let out an odd little cooing sound. It looked at her with big doeful eyes. "Don't look at me like that, you don't know how wrong what we're doing is." she whispered, patting it's head. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn the squirrel gave her a stern glare.  
  
"Man, I wish I had a camera.." She looked up to see Jericho leaning against the doorframe, clad in only his swimming trunks. "I knew you'd get along with the Nibs someday."  
  
"The Nibs?" she grinned.  
  
"Yep." he nodded. She shook her head and grinned.  
  
"So, what's with the swimsuit model look?" she questioned.  
  
"I thought you'd appreciate it." he winked at her.  
  
"Right." she snickered. He smirked.  
  
"I could take it off.." he offered innocently.  
  
"No, I think it's fine where it is." she rolled her eyes, standing. "But really, what are you up too?"  
  
"We're going for a swim." he said, moving to her. She grinned lightly.  
  
"And what if I don't want to?" she inquired.  
  
"Well, let's put it this way..you either get dressed into your swimsuit, or you swim with a nice set of clothes like the first time." he informed her.  
  
"But what about the sun?" she asked. "If you need reminding, you can look at my charred front side."  
  
"Sunscreen." he beamed. "Go on, get ready." She groaned, but ultimately did what he told her.  
  
She peeled off her clothing, pulling on her dreaded bikini. She winced. She looked really bad in it. She was beginning to wonder if wearing her clothing was a better idea, but she decided against it and walked out, grabbing a towel as she went. She walked lazily to the outside area, noting he was all ready sitting on one of the cheap lounge chairs. She walked to him.  
  
He smiled when he noticed her. "Sit down." he moved up the chair so she would fit on it too. She looked at him curiously. "All right, you've slept next to me the last what..2 days? And you still don't trust me?"  
  
"Do you blame me?" she giggled. He shrugged. "Fine." She sat carefully on the long chair.  
  
"No, back facing me." he commanded lightly. She looked at him a moment, then sighed and did as she was asked to do.  
  
"Chris what are you--" she didn't need to continue, he answered her question. She felt his hands touch her shoulders, and felt the coolness of the lotion he had said she would put on so she wouldn't get burned any more. "Chris I don't kn..woah!" She definitely didn't want to try to stop him when he made it clear what he was doing besides covering her up.  
  
He was making it into one hell of a message.  
  
"You like?" he asked, his breath easily flowing onto the back of her neck, making her involuntarily shudder.  
  
"O-oh, it's quite nice." she managed to mumble, "Right there.." He laughed and added an extra little squeeze to the area she stopped him at. "So those arms do have a use."  
  
"That's right, I built them up just because I knew one day I'd be sitting here doing this." he laughed. She smiled.  
  
"I don't care why you built your arms up," she said bluntly. "Just don't lose them until you're done with this."  
  
"Whatever the lady wants." he winked at her.  
  
She let out a small sigh as he managed to work the lotion in. She didn't know what he was doing but *damn* did it feel good. It didn't even hurt her sunburn! She had nothing against it the minute he started. When he was done, she knew it too, and hated to see it end. She knew that that was the last she would probably ever have.  
  
"Ready to swim?" he whispered in her ear. She smiled, nodding. "Good."  
  
"I might sink though." she giggled. "My muscles are a little too relaxed."  
  
"I wouldn't let you." he promised, watching as she got up. She turned and grinned at him.  
  
"Are you going to do one of those slow motion Baywatch-like sequences then if it happens?" she joked.  
  
"Well, you know I do have a good figure for it.." he winked. "Tell me, do my boobs bounce when I run?" Stephanie was quickly almost downed by a fit of laughter.  
  
"What? It's an honest question." he replied innocently. She rolled her eyes, pulling him toward the pool.  
  
"Come on, Pamela." she sniggered.  
  
"..But my hair will get wet!" he protested with a fake pout. She grinned evilly, suddenly pushing him in.  
  
She shielded herself as he splashed into the water, and she giggled, trying to look innocent when he surfaced, looking at her with an evil glare. "..Sorry, my hand slipped."  
  
"Oh you're going to get it." he said, easily grasping her ankles. She yelped, losing her balance, falling forward.  
  
Right onto him.  
  
She surfaced, then looked down, realizing that he was under her. She was wondering why the floor was moving under her feet. She took her weight off of him and he quickly surfaced, gasping for air. She blinked, she must have not moved too far because he surfaced inches away from herself.  
  
"Erm..my bad?" she coughed, looking up at him with real innocence for once. She let out a surprised cry when her head was dunked under water. When she surfaced, he was floating on his back, looking comfortable. Floating was the one thing that she never learned to do.  
  
She swam to him, and he grinned at her. "You have no clue how to do this, do you?"  
  
"How did you know?" she questioned.  
  
"You had that look." He let himself go back to a vertical position. "I'll teach you."  
  
"I don't know.." she winced, getting the memory of her brother trying to teach her.  
  
"Come on, it's easy." he beamed. She sighed.  
  
"Fine." she mumbled. He took her arm lightly and led her to the shallower parts.  
  
"It's very simple." he nodded. "Just relax and I'll get you into it.."  
  
She nodded, and he slowly bent down, letting his hand push her legs lightly so they stopped touching the ground. He guided her back down as her legs went up, so she was floating on the surface. She tensed a little at his touch.  
  
"Relax." he smiled. She tried her best, her body relaxing enough in his arms. "Perfect. OK, just close your eyes..don't think about floating at all. Think something happy, and keep your body stiff, and you should float."  
  
She let out a sigh, closing her eyes and thinking back to the past week. A small smile came to her face, and she let out a small sigh of content. "OK, I think I'm ready."  
  
"But you're floating all ready." she opened an eye to see Chris had let her go. She let out a laugh, but still concentrated on staying the way she was. "I bet you knew how to do it, you just wanted to be near me." he joked.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's it." she smiled, finally letting herself stop floating. She grinned slightly, approaching him. "But why would I do that if I could do this?" She pulled him into a kiss. It was the most affection she had probably ever shown.  
  
"I wish this didn't have to end." he whispered when the kiss had ended. He was holding her close. She felt so safe in his arms.  
  
"Me either." she agreed, looking down. "Because I think I love you."  
  
Her words were met with another kiss. This one, though, seemed full of more sorrow then happiness. It was more like a kiss goodbye, because that was what they were going to be doing once the next morning came.  
  
Saying goodbye. 


	11. Jeff's Pretty Confused..How Could He Be ...

He had tried to make the best of the entire day.  
  
He figured, hey, if this was the last day he could have with her, he was going to make it count. So in turn, the day ended up to be the best he probably had ever, perhaps heightened by the fact that she had said that she loved him.  
  
He did too, there was no doubt about it. Oh, irony was a bitch..he finally actually knew he had feelings that strong for someone, and it turned out to be the only girl in the entire world he couldn't have. How cruel was that? Did fate love to screw with him that much?  
  
But that day was over, and the morning had come. There was a definite air of sorrow in the place. They had tried to mask it with fake smiles and even faker small talk. He knew they both saw what was coming. He himself hated to think of it. He didn't want to go back to being alone, not after he had found her. He didn't want to fake hating her. It wouldn't be the same..ever.  
  
He saw her standing over her belongings, looking at it, making sure she had everything. He walked up behind her, letting his arms snake around her waist softly. She smiled, leaning into the embrace. letting her hand rest on his. He didn't know why he was prolonging the hurt, but he knew he wanted to remember how she felt against him.  
  
"About yesterday.." he whispered in her ear. He let her go and she turned to face him, a small, sad smile on her face.  
  
"Yes?" she asked, peering at him.  
  
"I didn't say it yesterday, but.." he shrugged. "I'm going to miss you so much." Stephanie bit her lip, then looked down.  
  
"Chris.." she let out a small sigh, pulling him into another hug. He knew she had started crying. He pulled her away, wiping away the tears that had escaped.  
  
"The minute we can be together, I'll come for you." he promised. "The minute I see that opening."  
  
"You say that now.." she sniffed. "But I'm sure you'll end up finding someone.."  
  
"Steph, don't even think that." he frowned. "I've spent my entire life and this is not one of those everyday flings. I know what I feel like, and this isn't it. I promise you, if I find the loophole, I'll use it."  
  
"I will too." she finally said after a pause. He smiled and kissed her softly.  
  
"Someone'll probably be here soon, get ready." he informed her. The look she was giving him was killing her. "Hey, don't worry about it. It'll be OK in the end."  
  
"Then why does it feel like I'm never going to see you again?" she asked, her voice quivering.  
  
"Of course you'll see me again." he said, trying to smile. "I'll always be there to interrupt you." She couldn't help but let out a slight laugh.  
  
"I suppose you will." she nodded.  
  
That was when the knock came. Chris stared at the door, feeling his legs freeze up quite suddenly. The good mood that had lingered for a moment or two had vanished, and Chris knew the minute he opened that door he might never feel like he was again.  
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder. He knew it was her. He didn't care, he pulled her into a deep, long kiss. The knock came again. "Stephanie, whatever happens..know I'll always love you."  
  
"I love you too." she responded. He beamed at her.  
  
"Time to start acting." He let her go, walking to the door. He was hoping it was Jeff..oh..he HOPED.  
  
And it was. Chris had an annoyed look on his face, and Jeff instantly knew what was going to happen. He tried to back away but Chris got him by the shirt and very easily picked him off the ground. He let out a little yelp and squirmed in his grip.  
  
"If you weren't driving I would kick your ass." he growled.  
  
"Nice to see you too Chris." he managed to choke out. Chris threw him down, and he landed on the ground.  
  
"Aw, didn't have a good week?" he blinked, standing up, dusting himself off.  
  
"YOU PUT ME IN A CABIN WITH JUST HER FOR A WEEK!" he reminded Jeff loudly, pointing to her as she walked out to see what all the noise was about. Thank god she knew this was all a badly done act. "I can't believe you expected me to have a good week!"  
  
"It was worth a shot." he shrugged meekly.  
  
"We're ready, you better drive fast." Chris glared at Jeff, who quickly complied.  
  
***  
  
Jeff couldn't believe it didn't work. Actually, they looked like they hated each other even more. Neither even looked at Jeff, and Jeff didn't want to know how bad he was going to get beaten when they got to the hotel. It was a longer drive, they had to go into the next state.  
  
If anything, Jeff knew both had grown attached to his little forest friend. He wasn't surprised that Chris liked Nibblers, but he was with Stephanie. She didn't seem to be that type. Well, it didn't matter. Jeff's idea was shot.  
  
He glanced over at them. There was something wrong with the picture. He had expected them to be all over each other, yes, but he thought if they weren't they would be fighting. They weren't doing that either, they just didn't aknowledge each other. Had he made them hate each other so much even fighting wasn't worth it?  
  
Matt and Lita must have been right. He suddenly felt a rush of guilt. He had gotten them all into deep shit. Matt, Lita, Shane..poor Shane, he was probably going to be fired when Stephanie got through with him, the little bitch. This was all his fault.  
  
He suddenly noted the battle wounds. Chris was sporting quite a big bandage on his arm. Stephanie..looked like she was burned. Thank god the house didn't explode. All there was in damage was a small broken window. God knows how THAT happened.  
  
Chris was so stubborn. He could deny it all he wanted, he knew there was something between them. Not even this made him think differently. Nothing would. That kiss at KOR had proved it in Jeff's mind. They both just didn't want to tell each other.  
  
Jeff was right about one thing, though. When they finally got to the new hotel, he made sure to kick his ass. Because he was a friend, he said, he would let him live. He wondered, though his daze, why it seemed like they had both looked at each other in a somewhat longing glance before she left so Chris could continue to punish him.  
  
"Come on, Rainbow, take me to Matt and Lita." he sniggered. Jeff winced. He knew what that meant.  
  
He took him to the Hardy room, and he noticed the 'Oh shit' faces on both of them when Chris basically threw him into the room. He watched as Chris grinned at the two.  
  
"It was his idea!" Matt quickly said. Lita nodded.  
  
"He made us!" Great people they were.  
  
"I know." he laughed. "That's why I kicked his ass."  
  
"How was the week?" Matt asked, as Jeff watched Chris step over him.  
  
"Hell. Yeesh, couldn't you stick me with someone a little better?" Chris flopped onto Jeff's bed.  
  
"It couldn't have been that bad." Lita responded. Chris picked up his arm and showed her the wound that Jeff had noticed. Jeff had managed to get up and had gotten to rubbing his sore head.  
  
"Ouch." she laughed. "Well, we told Jeff it was a dumb idea."  
  
"No it wasn't." he said stubbornly.  
  
"Do you want to get beat up bro?" Matt laughed.  
  
Jeff refused to believe that he was wrong. Something had happened, and he knew it. 


	12. Jericho And Steph Ain't Doing Too Good A...

"There's so many reasons,  
That I find to run to you.  
'Cause there's so little loving,  
In my life now I'm away..  
And thinking about it,  
I want things back how they used to be.  
'Cause there's no way around it,  
Nothing good comes easily.  
So much between us,  
And we both know that it's wrong.  
So I keep waiting  
'til I'm back where I belong..  
  
So here I am,  
All by myself.  
Thinking of you,  
Nobody else.  
There's a feeling inside,  
And as hard as I try,  
It just won't go away.  
Are you finding it hard all on your own,  
Having to face each night alone?  
Knowing that you are the one,  
With the love that I need.  
And I miss you more each day.."  
  
"Damnit!" Shane watched as Stephanie basically slam her radio off. Shane blinked, a little confused.  
  
"Um..Steph, sis, I know you don't like pop songs but.." She realized what she did and she tried not to blush.  
  
"Sorry, can't help it." she mumbled, lying. He shook his head.  
  
"You OK? You've been really..I don't know..sort of down since you came from that vacation." he peered at her curiously.  
  
"I'm fine." she snapped, not really meaning to be angry. She was more really really depressed, and Shane probing her..it was getting her edgy.  
  
"All right, I can see you're not in such a great mood.." he said, sounding like he was understating it. "So, speaking of your vacation, how was it? Shane told me that you decided to take an unexpected one."  
  
So that was what he said. She had all ready talked to Shane, promised him she wasn't really mad, but told him not to try it again. She wasn't going to beat him up, if she could, like Chris did to Jeff. He had to have a black eye from that. It was almost funny, and she would have laughed if she was allowed too.  
  
"It was nice." she shrugged.  
  
"Whatcha do there?" he questioned.  
  
"Relaxed. I didn't get too much work done, unfortunantly."  
  
"You work too hard, sis." he shook his head. She smiled slightly as he placed a small brotherly kiss on her temple. "How's Hunter, by the way?"  
  
"Divorce papers came in when I was gone." she rolled her eyes. He frowned.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"I'm not." she smirked. "They're all ready sent back. He can't get shit from me, you remember the deal we signed."  
  
"Yep, what's yours is yours, what's his is his. A pretty good deal." Shane nodded. "So what now?"  
  
"No clue." she shrugged. "Guess I'll just keep working. I'm just not meant for any sort of love."  
  
"Sure you are." he said, trying to sound upbeat.  
  
"No, I'm not." she sighed, thinking of Chris. "Can you leave me alone for awhile, Shane?"  
  
"Sure thing. Just call if you need anything." he patted her shoulder, walking out of her hotel room. She sighed, flopping onto her bed.  
  
She closed her eyes, trying to remember the feel of his touch. This was not going too well. It was only the night of being picked up, and she all ready feeling lonely. She missed him so much, and all she could do was stare at her ceiling.  
  
She knew she could just leave and join her dad, but then that would leave ECW dead. She had grown bonds with the stars there, even though most of them sort of looked to Heyman more. She didn't want them to not have jobs. She could never forgive herself if she did that. He meant a lot to her, but not enough that she would destroy other lives for that.  
  
There was a time that she would, but not anymore. She had learned a lot in the past week.  
  
And lost a lot too.  
  
****  
  
"Chris! You've been moping around all day!" Chris raised his head from his bed to see Lita standing by him, looking at him sternly. He smiled weakly.  
  
"I'm just sort of tired." he explained, though he was clearly lying. She rolled her eyes.  
  
"You were in a cabin for a week. It couldn't have been THAT bad." she laughed.  
  
"It wouldn't have been if SHE wasn't there." he smirked.  
  
"You seem to hate her even more now." she commented. He shrugged.   
  
"Probably." he grinned. She shook her head.  
  
"Come on Chris, why don't you hang with us for awhile? That should make you feel better."  
  
"What, and go watch a movie in your room?" he grinned. "The last time I did that.."  
  
"That won't happen again." she smirked. "The TV short circuited."  
  
"Yes, well, I don't feel like being electrocuted again." he wagged a finger. She let out a pout. "And DON'T give me that look."  
  
"Fine. You're no fun." she laughed.  
  
"..How did you get in here, anyway?" he asked, looking at the door.  
  
"You left it opened." she shrugged.  
  
"I could have been sleeping naked or something." he pointed out.  
  
"Like you have anything I would want to see." she smirked, waving a hand. "Bye Chrissy." He glared at her as she walked out, whistling innocently.  
  
It was the middle of the day. It was probably around the day mark of Jeff picking them up. He didn't like the feeling of her not being in the area when he woke up. Actually, he felt like he was going insane. There had to be something he could do to end this. There just had to be.  
  
He sat up, thinking. If he couldn't be with her, he knew he had to just do one last nice thing for her. But what? He couldn't make contact with her, it would be too suspicious. His mind suddenly wandered to the discussion they had at the table.  
  
That nanny.  
  
She hadn't told him her name, but he knew where to get it. He pulled on his shoes, basically flying out the door. Yes, this was a perfect idea. What a great way to show her that he was still thinking about her!  
  
He banged on the door he stopped at. Come on, he had to be there..the door opened, and he let out a sigh of relief. There stood Vince McMahon, looking a bit confused. He peered at Chris through his little reading glasses.  
  
"Can I help you Mr. Jericho?" he questioned, smirking. "What relative died this time?"  
  
"Relative..?" he blinked, then understood. "Oh! No one. Listen, Vance, I have a question for you."  
  
"Hurry up, then, I'm a bit busy." Jericho knew Vince would never like him, but he could care less at the moment.  
  
"This might seem odd." he paused, then shrugged. "But I have a question about a former employee of yours."  
  
"You mean, another wrestler?" he asked, peering at him.  
  
"Not exactly." he explained. "About a maid of yours."  
  
"A maid?" he inquired, giving him an odd look.  
  
"Yes. A black lady, you fired her because she was giving Stephanie odd ideas..?" Vince blinked, seeming like he was thinking.  
  
"I suppose you're talking about Eda Monque, but Chris, how did you know about her?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"And where do you think she went?" he continued to question.  
  
"Last I heard she was down in Atlanta, Georgia. What is this all about, Chris?" he asked, sounding like he was growing weary.  
  
"Nothing at all, sir!" he grinned widely, actually giving him a hug. Vince looked like he went into a state of shock. "Thanks!" He walked away, humming a tune to himself.  
  
"As long as Kane doesn't hug me.." he heard Vince mumble to himself as he left.  
  
Chris had quickly made his way to his room and had picked up the phone. He quickly dialed 411. This was going to work. This had too.  
  
"How can I help you?" a cheery voice questioned from the end of the line.  
  
"Yeah, hi..I'm looking for someone, I was wondering if you could help me." he replied, suddenly feeling nervous.  
  
"As long as you have the city and the last name, I'm sure I could narrow it down." the voice responded. Chris thanked god for this phone service.  
  
"Yes. She's in Alanta, Georgia, I believe. That was what she told me when she left. Her name is Eda Monque." he explained. There was a pause.  
  
"Well, I ran a check though all names in the Atlanta area, and you are one lucky person." the person on the other end explained. "There happens to be only one Monque. Would you like me to put you through to see if it is the one you're searching for?"  
  
"Yes, of course." Chris quickly agreed. "Thank you."  
  
"Hold please." the voice commanded him, and he suddenly heard the ringing of a phone in the reciever. He took a breath, now feeling really nervous.  
  
"Hello?" an elderly voice answered. Chris bit his lip, then managed to speak.  
  
"Hello. Is there an Eda living at your residence?" he asked.  
  
"Why yes, that's me." the old woman responded. "Who is this?" Jericho couldn't contain a grin.  
  
"Ms. Monque, you don't know me, but my name is Chris Jericho." he explained. "Did you happen to work for Vince McMahon?"  
  
"Well, I don't know why you ask, Mr. Jericho, but yes I did." she informed him.  
  
"Then you know Stephanie McMahon." he continued.  
  
"She was a darling child." she explained.  
  
"Well, she thought the world of you too, Eda." he smiled. "I'm a friend of hers, and she's told me all about you."  
  
"She has?" Eda asked, surprised.  
  
"Yes. You really shaped her into a fine person, Ms. Monque. That's why I know she wants to see you again." he nodded as he talked.  
  
"See me?" she questioned, still a little shocked.  
  
"Listen, I know this is all a little strange, but I promise you I kid you not. I'm willing to pay for a plane ticket so you can go talk to her."  
  
"Child, are you telling me you want me to trust you, a complete stranger?" she asked, sounding a bit unconvinced.  
  
"Listen, you got fired because Vince thought you were teaching her too much. Would most people know that?" he asked. "You taught her to cook at 15." There was a pause.  
  
"All right, supposin' I say I believe you. What would I have to do?" she asked, sounding a little more interested.  
  
"Eda, it'll be easy." he smiled widely. "All you have to do.." 


	13. Eda Is Pretty Fly For An Old Lady..Or So...

Stephanie was definitely not acting like herself. She kept attempting to trick her brother and her federation into thinking she was fine, but the fake smiles were harder and harder to make each moment.  
  
Nothing seemed to make her happy, even when she tried to enjoy it.  
  
"I have to get over this." she told herself crossly, almost beratingly. "It has been three days. I must have thought of every way I could get back with him, but none of them would ever work."  
  
But how could she let him go when he was all she saw? Every time she closed her eyes, he was there. She would of course really see him too, because they were in the same business and all, and she all ready knew that would prove even more hellish. It was like being a kid in front of a candy store window. Look but don't touch..  
  
Her eyes fluttered open. Did someone knock on her door or was she hearing things? She wouldn't doubt that she was losing her sanity. She sat up, and then heard it again. Good, so she did hear it. She walked to the door, half expecting her brother would be standing there, the same worried look on his face.  
  
She swung open the door, ready to do the same fake smile, say the same fake assuring words. It wasn't Shane, that's for sure. She peered curiously at the old woman that was standing at her doorway.  
  
"Can I help you?" she questioned. The old woman smiled at her.  
  
"He didn't lie." she finally spoke. Stephanie blinked, confused, but for some reason had a odd feeling she knew who this woman was.  
  
"Who didn't lie?" she questioned, growing even more curious.  
  
"A remarkable young man," she replied, chuckling slightly. "He called me, said that the little girl I looked after had grown up to a fine young lady."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes flickering with sudden recognition.  
  
"Don't tell me you forgot me." she replied. "I mean, I did take care of you for god knows how long.."  
  
"Nanna?" she asked, feeling her eyes start to water. The old woman smiled.  
  
"It's been a long time since anyone called me that." she chuckled.  
  
Stephanie pulled the old woman into a hug, not knowing anything else to do. "Oh my god, I can't believe it!" her voice showed her obvious shock. "Come in, come in!"  
  
Che closed the door behind them and led her to a table in the room. They both sat down, and Stephanie just sort of stared at her, still amazed. Eda laughed, probably noticing the look.  
  
"You could catch flies with your mouth hanging like that." she winked at her.  
  
"How did you get here?" she questioned.  
  
"Child, I explained that all ready." she grinned. "A nice man called me up on the telephone, told me that you would just love to see me. Then he said something about finding me would be a last present from him. Anyway, he brought my ticket for a plane, got me a hotel room, and picked me up."  
  
"Do you know his name?" she asked, suddenly realling having a hard time holding her tears back.  
  
"Why yes, actually." she nodded. "He said it was Chris Jericho. I tell ya, darling, he was just as handsome as I thought he would be! A complete gentleman. Why, if I could, I would have went after him myself."  
  
"I would if I could too." Stephanie mumbled, feeling depressed again. She felt a comforting hand on hers.  
  
"Well, don't just sit there, tell me all about you and this man." she smiled at her.  
  
"Oh, you don't want to hear my sob story." Stephanie quickly tried to dismiss it. "I mean, we haven't seen each other in years."  
  
"Child, this is the only thing we ever talked about." the old woman laughed. "I would feel weird if we didn't."  
  
"You sure?" she asked meekly.  
  
"I'm listening." she nodded.  
  
With the sudden outlet, to talk about what happened, she quickly started. She couldn't believe the stuff coming out of her mouth, but she just let herself let it all out. She finally had someone to talk too, she wasn't going to miss the chance. All through it, her old friend sat and listened intently.  
  
"You really love him." she simply said after looking at her for a moment. "I remember when I had the look you had..was with my husband, bless his heart.."  
  
"Yeah, I guess I do." Stephanie replied after a pause. A smile appeared on her friend's face as she looked down, again depressed.  
  
"Well, I was taught that fate only give you one chance. Considering what I've seen with him, I'm guessing that guy is who you were meant to be with." she shrugged softly. "But what do I know? I'm just an old woman." She winked at her and Stephanie let out a smile.  
  
"But there's nothing I can do." she sighed.  
  
"Actually, I can think of something YOU didn't." Eda nodded.  
  
"You can?" she asked, shocked.  
  
"Yes, you missed the hardest choice, but probably the only one that would work," she explained. "You have to go to your father. If you team up with the WWF, it'll be all clear."  
  
"Yeah right!" she said quickly. "Sorry, Nanna, but I don't think my dad would say 'Sure, ECW and WWF can team up because you just suddenly felt like changing teams.'. Nevermind the people in my federation.."  
  
"He might believe you if you told him the entire truth." Eda offered, shrugging.  
  
"Considering Chris's past with me, I doubt he'll believe of all the people in the world *he* was the one who changed my mind." she frowned.  
  
"Have you tried?"  
  
"Well, no.."  
  
"Maybe you should. You never know.."  
  
***  
  
"How many of those have you had?" Chris groaned, putting his head on the bar. He winced at the voice questioning him.  
  
"Only four." he lied.  
  
"Well, maybe you had enough." He felt Matt pat his back. He shrugged in reply.  
  
"Whatever." he mumbled.  
  
"You're starting to worry me, man." Chris lifted hs head to see Matt slip into the stool next to him.  
  
"I'm all right." he replied. Matt gave him a skeptical look. He didn't try to push him to explain his terribly depressed attitude, that's for sure. Chris was glad of that.  
  
He hated how cruel life was. He had to send an old lady just to do something nice for her. He wondered if she was happy to see Eda again. He hoped so.  
  
She had made him think more about Stephanie, though. She asked him questions about her, which he gladly answered. As he talked about her, though, he realized something. Everything he said made him smile. He knew Eda figured out how much she meant to him. She had too.  
  
She didn't comment, just let him describe hot he saw fit. He told her how amazing she was. He told her how it was strange that his feelings were like that, considering the past which he also explained. When he was done, she said only one thing.  
  
"You probably felt the way you do now all along. You just didn't want to see it."  
  
He winced as the words echoed in his mind. She was probably absolutely right. Actually, he probably secretly noticed it the night of King of the Ring. He hadn't meant to kiss her, but he suddenly found himself doing it. He covered that up pretty quickly. What a lie he said! He'd never do what he did again, that's what he promised. A year later..  
  
He shook his head, ordering another drink. Matt too it before he had a chance to drink it. He reminded himself to hate his friends when he sobered up. 


	14. Meeting Time! Before Steph Convinces Vin...

She couldn't believe she was doing what she was doing. At least a dozen eyes were on her, and she felt entirely self-conscience. She did think about it for a long time, and at least she made sure she really wanted to do it.  
  
"What's up, Mrs. McMahon?" Justin spoke up first as she tried to calm her nerves down.  
  
"I called you all here today for a reason." she began, then paused. She noted she had all of their attention. "I've been thinking awhile about ECW's role in the Alliance..and I didn't like what I saw."  
  
"What do you mean?" Lance suddenly asked. Good, they were curious.  
  
"Well, Lance, I've been working with my brother and Heyman for quite a bit now. Though both pretend, like Austin, to care, they don't. Neither of them do." she shook her head sadly. "And especially about us. Tell me, you guys, how many ECW members have a title, or even got a chance to get one?"  
  
"RVD has the hardcore title.." Raven pointed out. "..For now.." he mumbled under his breath.  
  
"Storm had the Intercontinental title for a little bit." Tazz shrugged.  
  
"Anything else?" Stephanie asked. The silence was the answer. "Now, look at WCW. Booker T had the WCW title. Kidman had the Cruiserweight. That idiot Kanyon was basically HANDED the US Title. DDP was even tag team champs with him! Now tell me, how fair is it? Sure, hardcore is our thing, but I think each of you deserve a chance to show your talents.  
  
"So what are you trying to say, boss?" She smiled toward RVD, who looked a bit confused as the others were.  
  
"Perhaps we should show WCW how much they need to appreciate us." she suggested. "I'm not sure if it's possible, but perhaps the WWF would use the talents much more then WCW and Shane ever will." She watched as they all talked among each other at the prospect.  
  
"But we left because they didn't use us." Rhyno pointed out.  
  
"That's Heyman talking for you." Stephanie shook her head. "Raven, Rhyno, you were the best Hardcore champs in WWF history. Hell, Rhyno, you were almost King of the Ring! Oh, by the way, who SCREWED you out of that chance?"  
  
"Shane.." he mumbled, sighing.  
  
"Tazz, you were well respected as a commentator. God knows how boring Cole was without you." she pointed out. "Justin, you were apart of a team that was quickly rising to the top with you. Bubba, D-Von, you two were one of the best and most used tag teams in the federation!"  
  
"But he won't take us back." Tazz interjected.  
  
"It's worth a try." she shrugged. "But I'll only do it if you want me too." She watched them huddle together, then Tommy Dreamer stood up.  
  
"We'll do it." he spoke for the group. "But you better know what you're doing boss."  
  
She smiled at them. "You won't regret it. I promise."  
  
****  
  
"Have you noticed Chris seems..um..depressed?" Lita questioned. Jeff looked at her, putting the magazine he was reading to the side.  
  
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed." he replied.  
  
"He was definitely drinking something away last night." Matt said, walking into the room, drying his hair.  
  
"Shane says Stephanie hasn't seemed jolly either." Lita added.  
  
"Oh god, Lita, now you're thinking like Jeff too?" Matt groaned.  
  
"Why else would Chris be upset? I bet they're pretending not to like each other." Jeff rationalized.  
  
"Jeff, they don't like each other." Matt smirked.  
  
"I don't know, Matt, he does seem a bit upset about something." Lita spoke up. "For no reason, too."  
  
"Well, I still can't believe it." Matt shook his head. "It's more likely that aliens took over his body."  
  
"ET phone home.." Jeff chuckled. "But see? Even Lita thinks so."  
  
"That's because you probably both have gotten hit in the head too much." Matt smirked.  
  
"Speaking of Stephanie, an interesting rumor is going around." Lita spoke up.  
  
"What sort of rumor?" Jeff questioned.  
  
"Well, Essa said he saw all of the ECW stars going into Steph's room." Lita nodded.  
  
"And that's important because..?" Matt inquired.  
  
"Matt, normal meetings are done with the WCW side too. She's up to something." she explained.  
  
"Probably going to kick Chris's ass." Matt mused.  
  
"Or ours." Jeff added. Matt winced.  
  
"That's true." he sighed. "Oh well, we had it coming."  
  
"I don't know," Lita shrugged. "I don't have a bad feeling for once." 


	15. Chris Has A Surprise Comin' To Him..

Stephanie bit her lip. She felt incredibly nervous, and for good reason. She was standing outside the office of her father, the man she had turned her back on. She had thought of every way to approach this,but the only one that had a chance of working was telling the truth, like Eda said.  
  
"Tell the truth?" she mumbled to herself, still staring at the door. "Yeah, I can't wait until I see Dad's face when I tell him who changed my mind.."  
  
She raised her hand to knock on the door, but hesitated. What if he didn't believe her? She wouldn't be surprised if she was laughed out of the office. Shaking the negative thoughts from her head, she finally knocked once.  
  
"Come in." her dad's voice was rough as always. She took a breath and opened the door.  
  
It took him around two seconds to realize who she was. She winced at the glare she was shot. "What the hell do you want?"  
  
"A moment of your time." she managed to blurt out. "Please." He eyed her cautiously.  
  
You have five minutes." he finally said, gesturing to the vacant seat in front of his desk. She nervously sat down, hoping what she was about to say would convince him.  
  
"I'll cut to the chase." she explained, trying to keep her voice from quivering. "You need help and so do I."  
  
"Help?" he asked.  
  
"You can talk all you want, but you know the Alliance is becoming too strong." she paused. "I know what's our weakness though. Without my federation, WCW would crumble."  
  
"And how does this concern me?" Vince peered at her.  
  
"I am willing, as well as my wrestlers, to join the WWF." she noted the look of skeptism etched on her father's face. "WCW has not used ECW right. Everyone who left your company have seen they were lied to, by Heyman. I was lied to as well."  
  
"Why the sudden change in mind? How do I know this isn't some scam?" Vince inquired, looking even more suspicious.  
  
"Well, as I said before, I've been noting the lack of respect we've been getting. Without us, WCW would have been crushed by now." she hesitated, then reminded herself that was the only way, as her father still didn't look convinced. "Another reason is on a more personal note."  
  
"And what might the other reason be?" he asked, looking right at her.  
  
"Recently, one of your wrestlers sort of changed my mind about a lot of things." she hoped he wouldn't't question her further, but he did.  
  
"And just who might this inspirational man be?" Stephanie winced inwardly. She knew this wasn't going well.  
  
"Chris Jericho." she finally said. She didn't look up at her father this time, because she all ready knew he had a humored look on his face.  
  
"So let me get this straight, Stephanie.." he peered at her. "You're telling me that the man who has been tormenting you for over a year changed your mind about being with WCW?"  
  
"I know how crazy that must sound, but it's true." she sighed.  
  
"So you did say that. Good, I thought I needed a hearing aid for a second there." he paused. "You do realize why it's hard for me to believe this, right?"  
  
"Listen, Daddy, I can explain it all." she bit her lip. "It started like this.."  
  
She told him the entire story, besides the little 'love' part in it. That's all her father needed, to know her daughter loved the man who has been humiliating him since he first came to the WWF. Still, he listened to all the stuff she did say, but didn't seem convinced fully.  
  
"And to prove my loyalty, I will even sign half of ECW to you. If I left, it would be the end of ECW." she finally said. "Please."  
  
"Well, I can't believe I'm going to say this..but fine. I will agree to this." he paused. "But if you're lying, Stephanie, you know what will happen."  
  
"I promise I'm not lying." she swore.  
  
"In that case, tell your boys they'll be fighting for a new side come Thursday." he grinned lightly. "I'll get the papers written up."  
  
  
****  
  
"Hey look, Stephanie's coming out." Chris glanced up, towards the small TV screen. What was she up too? He glanced toward the other occupants of his locker room.  
  
"She's probably up to no good." Matt shook his head, leaning back in his chair.  
  
"She's so brutal." Edge commented, while Christian nodded.  
  
"A total tramposaurus." Christian agreed.  
  
"How did they find this locker room?" Chris heard Jeff whisper to Lita, who shrugged.  
  
"I have an announcement to make." Chris's eyes quickly focused on the screen. "But first, someone has to come out here."  
  
"She's going to kill Shane!" Jeff guessed.  
  
"And that man is Chris Jericho." Jericho blinked in shock. "Chris, would you please come out?"  
  
"Dude! She like totally called him out!" Edge said, stating the obvious. Christian nodded, grinning widely. Chris ignored them, standing up, his mind all ready racing. What did she want from him?  
  
"It might be a trap, want us to come?" Matt questioned. Chris shook his head.  
  
"It's all right." he replied, before leaving the room.  
  
He heard his entrance theme suddenly pop up, and he walked out seconds later to the dull roar of the crowd. He didn't care though, all he saw was her. What was she up too? A thought crossed his mind..what if she was going to embarrass him or something? No, she wouldn't do that..  
  
She was leaning on the ropes, looking at him as well. "Come down to the ring." she gestured towards him. He hesitated, looking at her semi-suspiciously without even meaning too. The thought kept crossing his mind, what if she had just toyed with him? "It's all right, no tricks, I promise." He cautiously walked down the ramp, then entered the ring.  
  
"What are you doing?" he inquired so only she would hear. She smiled widely.  
  
"Now that you're down here, Chris, I can continue my announcement." Stephanie explained, ignoring the crowd as well. "for awhile, now, ECW has been back in business. However, it's become increasingly obvious that my brother Shane and Paul Heyman don't seem to hold us in the same respect as they do themselves. This, of course, is a big problem. But that's not my announcement, and not why he is out here." She winked at him, and he just stood, listening to her. "The reason Jericho is out here is because he single-handedly led me to realize what I had just said previously, which also got me to my annoucement which I know you all will like."  
  
Chris watched her as she talked. She had taken a pause, which drove Chris nuts. What was she talking about? What was the announcement? His stomach had tied into knots by then.  
  
"The announcement is simple..as of today, ECW is officially on the side that has been respecting us since the beginning..we're joining forces with the WWF." His jaw dropped. It took him a few seconds to register what she was saying.  
  
If she was on his side, he could..a smile crossed his lips. Yes, he was very very happy.  
  
"As I have stated before, you may all thank this man for surprisingly opening my eyes. Thank you, Chris." He felt himself grow red, but fought it. He instead lightly took the microphone from her, putting it up to his mouth.  
  
"If that's the case, Steph.." he replied. "Let me be the first to welcome you guys to the team."  
  
He smiled when she hugged him. He figured Jeff was freaking out by then. It felt so good to have her close to him again, he couldn't believe how much he missed it.  
  
By the time they got to the back, Chris's shock had woren off. He watched as she turned to face him, a small, coy grin on her face. She was enjoying driving him nuts.  
  
"This means what I'm hoping it does, right?" he questioned. She responded by pulling him into a light kiss.  
  
"Oh look at this, another Romeo and Juliet." The kiss was quickly broken at the voice. He turned to see something not exactly so great. "allow me to barf." Chris instantly stepped in front of Stephanie, but knew all ready that he was going to get beaten senselessly.  
  
Standing in front of them and on all sides were the big guys of WCW. From DDP to Austin, they were all there. There was no way he could hold all of them back. 


	16. Fights Are Bad. People Get Hurt. And Stu...

Stephanie managed to keep from entirely freaking out She glanced around them. There had to be a way out. When she found none, that's when she began to panic. They were all ready backed up against the wall.  
  
He was going to attempt to protect her, she knew it. All ready he was in front of her, looking like a cornered dog. She knew there would be no way he could take on all of them. Especially not these guys.  
  
"Keep her out of this." Chris stated, looking determinded.  
  
"I don't think you are in any position to tell us what to do, Mr. Jericho." Shane suddenly walked forward, and smirked. Her mouth dropped. Even Shane..? "Nor will we let her go. She deserves it as much as you."  
  
"You're sick." she spat. Shane grinned at his sister.  
  
"Thanks, sis." he snickered, sounding cheerful.  
  
"Make an example out of them." Austin pointed toward them. Stephanie let out a yelp when three people jumped Chris. She tried to go help him, but found himself caught by Austin himself.  
  
"Chris!" she struggled in his grip. "Let me go!"  
  
"You see what happens, traitor? What? I don't hear you.." Austin snickered. She shivered when his breath hit her neck. "Watch your boyfriend get beat into a bloody pulp."  
  
"Leave him alone!" she cried out as another four took their turn on him. He was trying to fight back, but they quickly over powered him.  
  
Suddenly she felt Austin slump against her, and she buckled under his weight. She quickly felt the weight get thrown off her though, and when she turned around she found Rhyno standing over a out cold Austin.  
  
Chris wasn't being attacked either. Rhyno helped her up, and she found herself seeing the entire ECW group attacking their old team mates.  
  
Then she saw a bloodied and battered Chris Jericho trying to stagger to his feet, and in seconds nothing else mattered. She ran to his side. His legs buckled and he dropped to the ground, panting heavily, blood pouring from different wounds.  
  
"Chris, are you okay?" she whispered gently. He twitched, looking like he was in extreme pain, but he looked up at her, managing to give a small, pained smile.  
  
"Never better, Princess." he managed to say. He looked like he was probably half-awake. Suddenly she saw his eyes widen and before she could say anything he pulled her aside. She was temporarily stunned, but it quickly went away when she heard a sickening thump. She turned to find Chris now really lying out. Above him was DDP, who was holding a piece of plywood.  
  
He began to go after her, but suddenly he slumped to the ground himself. In her panicked mind, she still recognized Raven, who was smirking, giving DDP a kick for good measure. She noted cheering, and figured they had run the WCW people off, but she didn't care.  
  
She was back to kneeling by Chris's side, pulling him to her, his head in her lap. He was still conscience, somehow, but the blood was pouring now even more freely, staining Stephanie as well. She didn't care. His face was scrunched up, showing his obvious pain.  
  
"Chris!" she cried, all ready feeling tears roll down her face. He opened his eyes briefly, looking up at her. "You're so stupid!" she sniffed. "Why did you take that shot for me?"  
  
"Because.." he managed to say. "I owed you one..the blackout.." His head fell to the side. At first she thought he had died, but the steady rise and fall of his chest comforted her. She cradled him, not caring that the blood continued to flow, nor noting that all her employees but RVD, who had went to call 911, was watching her do so.   
  
  
****  
  
It felt like a dream. He had continue to drift in and out of conscienceness, his memory picking up little things. It was all blurry though, almost incomplete. He heard voices that he couldn't seem to hear clearly enough. It was like a dull buzzing noise.  
  
He woke up, his eyes silently rolling open. His senses were assaulted all at once. The light glared down on him, the smell of detergent was overpowering, and he heard light, distinct mumbling from somewher near him, but not too close. There was one sense that quickly knew what it was dealing with, though.  
  
Her hand. He knew it anywhere. The memories came back pretty quickly. The fight. Stephanie. ECW..  
  
He turned his head, his eyes focusing. He knew it, it was her. Stephanie, she had her hand on his. Her head was placed on the bed he was sleeping on.  
  
It came to him suddenly..he was in a hospital.  
  
Chris freed his hand gently, letting it rise slightly to touch her cheek. He bit back a cry of pain when he must have moved a wrong muscle. The pain was worth it. It all was.  
  
He watched as her eyes opened, her head slowly rising from the bed. She looked at him, and he gave her a smile. She blinked twice, then seemed to snap awake.  
  
"You're awake!" she cried out in surprise, giving him a hug.  
  
"Ow..ow! The ribs!" he winced.  
  
"Oops." she coughed, letting him go.  
  
"How long have I been out?" he inquired, yawning.   
  
"Three days." she sighed. "Don't you worry me like that again Chris Jericho!"  
  
"It's not my fault I was jumped by a dozen people." he pouted, wincing as his body disapproved of his movement. She looked down. "How long have YOU been here?"  
  
"Three days." she replied again. He smiled.  
  
"This seems like a big switch of what happened in the cabin, doesn't it?" he chuckled.  
  
"Only you didn't throw up on me." she paused. "Well, the blood was just as bad.."  
  
"So, what's wrong with me?" he asked.  
  
"A few bruised ribs and bones, and a hell of a lot of stitches." she shrugged. "Not as bad as I thought."  
  
"Are you OK?" he asked, peering up at her. She smiled lightly.  
  
"Thanks to you." she paused, then sighed. "This was a mistake."  
  
"What was?" he asked.  
  
"Chris, look at you.." she sighed. "This is all my fault."  
  
"I could have swore DDP hit me." he scratched his head.  
  
"He wouldn't have if I wasn't so selfish." she sighed.  
  
"Selfish?" he blinked.  
  
"If I didn't leave WCW, you'd be OK." she sighed.  
  
"No I wouldn't." he quickly interjected, struggling to get up. He managed to prop himself up, and picked up her chin with a hand, making her look at him. "I wouldn't have protected you if it wasn't worth it, hun. And trust me, the pain I went through wasn't as bad as the pain I had away from you.."  
  
"Do you mean that?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah. After all, I was numb after the first wave anyway." he grinned, his tone joking. She couldn't help but laugh. "I love you." He said it with such seriousness that he was surprised himself. He still pulled her closer into a kiss.  
  
"What the hell..?!" Thump. Chris looked toward his hospital's room door to find Matt had fainted.  
  
"We have explaining to do, I suppose." she mused outloud.  
  
"To both companies." Chris agreed, grinning at Stephanie.  
  
He pulled her into a kiss again, feeling the pain melt away. He couldn't believe he almost lost her.  
  
"I KNEW IT!" He heard Jeff screech. Chris made a mental note to get new friends when he got better.  
  
Well, maybe he did owe them. A little. Sort of. He glanced at all of the sudden occupants of his room. "Things are gonna be interesting now." he mused to basically himself, letting out a small chuckle.  



End file.
